Part 13. Org members please feel free to add any articles on any upcoming newsworthy music or movie releases.

Part 12 Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/421748

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[Edited 5/25/16 9:12am]

‘The Path’ Review: Aaron Paul’s Hulu Drama A Journey Worth Taking

by Dominic Patten March 25, 2016 3:03pm

Good Friday can put many in a reflective state of mind when it comes to faith, and in many different ways so will Hulu’s The Path. Debuting on March 30 with two episodes and the rest of the 10-episode first season rolling out weekly after that, the drama series created by Jessica Goldberg and executive produced by Jason Katims is a journey that opens up many beguiling narrative avenues. In fact, as I say in my video review above, with the streaming service’s ever-growing slate of originals like Casual and 11.22.63, The Path could be the drama that puts Hulu in the major leagues – especially due to the heavy hitters it has as its leads.

Centered on the fictional, seemingly hippyish Meyerist Movement, the series sees the on-screen regular return of Aaron Paul to dramatic TV for the first time since Breaking Bad ended in 2013. As a convert to the movement and husband to the highly placed Sarah (played by the exceptional Michelle Monaghan of Season 1 of True Detective), Paul’s Eddie Lane is a man in many ways even more tormented than Breaking Bad‘s Jesse Pinkman as he learns the secrets of the supposedly loving cult. What emerges from well-weaved plotlines involving power, agendas, spiritualism, FBI surveillance, strange bedfellows, and more than one Judas kiss, is that the movement is becoming increasingly dominated by surrogate leader Cal Roberts, played with alternating sincerity and sinisterness by Hannibal alum Hugh Dancy – a man who wants to control everything including the heart of Sarah.

The route can be grim to say the least, but The Path sees Emmy-winner Paul, Monaghan and Emmy-nominated Dancy doing some of their best work. Like any faith or fairytale, the whole of The Path is greater than the sum of its parts. However, when you have such authoritative crafters as the ex-Parenthood producers Goldberg and Katims, plus a trinity of strong leads and a key supporting cast, The Path is a series that is worth putting your viewing faith in.

‘MacGyver’: Addison Timlin & Michelle Krusiec Cast In CBS Pilot

by Nellie Andreeva • tip March 28, 2016 4:25pm

Rush Hour TV Series Intends to Survive on its Own Merit

The creators and cast of CBS' new buddy cop action-comedy talk about adapting the popular Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan films.

By Matt Fowler Headed to CBS this March is Rush Hour, a new action-comedy from Cougar Town's Bill Lawrence and Blake McCormick, along with Psych's Steve Franks. Based, of course, on the popular Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker films. The three creators, along with the cast - including leads Justin Hires and Jon Foo - appeared at the TCA Press Tour to talk about the positives and negatives of taking a well-known movie to the small screen.

"You guys know the battle of TV right now, right?," Lawrence (Scrubs) asked the TV critics in attendance for the Q&A session. "There are a lot of shows on television right now, and I think it's a risky dice to roll because, if it’s an iconic movie that people like you can’t knock fans off of it. But I think what you hope is that a title brings people to check out your show and give it a look. And I still want to believe that if you cast it well and write it well and act it well and produce it well, the people will stay after that, long after the references to the feature are gone."

McCormick then explained how he and Lawrence were already developing a buddy cop TV series before it morphed into a Rush Hour series. "When that was introduced to us as a possibility," he said, "it seemed like a cool way to do it. But we always just wanted to do a fun, buddy cop, action-comedy, and I think the Rush Hour thing just kind of blended with the show we already wanted to do. And so we didn’t feel like we were necessarily taking a movie and doing a TV show version of it. It just became the best way to do the show that we had planned on doing anyway."

Stars Hires and Foo were then asked how they felt about playing the iconic roles played by Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. "Well, for myself, Chris Tucker is literally one of the reasons that I got into comedy," Hires shared. "So it’s a huge honor and a privilege to be able to step into those shoes. Honestly, I just feel like, if I bring my own comedic voice to this role, that, eventually, the audience will see that there’s a different Detective Carter, and hopefully, they grow to love me somewhat comparable to Chris Tucker."

"I feel it was a privilege regardless of whoever played the role previously," Foo explained. "I felt like it was a good role to play, and yeah, it was an honor to be able to do this."

Lawrence then added "I think one of the cool things these two have done is just brought their own voices to the show, because once you get away from the pilot, you’ve just got to count on people digging the show on its own merit."

Rush Hour premieres on March 31st at 10pm on CBS.

Ash Is Here to Party in First Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 Photo

By Alex Osborn Ahead of Ash vs Evil Dead's return this fall, Starz has revealed the first official photo for Season 2.

If the image -- courtesy of TV Insider -- is any indication, fun times are in store for Ash (Bruce Campbell) early on in the show's second season, as he kicks it back in Florida, chainsawing his way through a keg.

Image credit: Starz, via TV Insider

"When you have a chain-saw hand, this is how you tap a keg," executive producer Craig DiGregorio said of the new photo, adding that Ash unfortunately won't be able to relax for long, as "the party is cut short when he must return home to continue the fight against evil."

Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 premieres this fall. While you patiently wait for Ash's horrifying story to continue, check out IGN's review of Season 1.

‘The Night Manager’ Ends UK Run On Ratings High; Will It Spawn A 2nd Season – Or A New 007?

by Nancy Tartaglione March 28, 2016 12:42pm

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details of last night’s final episode of The Night Manager on BBC One in the UK.

Spy thriller The Night Manager capped off a terrific run on BBC One in the UK last night, three weeks ahead of its April 19 Stateside debut on AMC. Ratings have been strong for the John Le Carré adaptation across the six parts, averaging 6.3M overnight viewers. Sunday’s finale took 6.61M for the mini’s best overnight score, and a 28 share. Live+7s roundly added about 2M viewers to each of the first four episodes.

As far as new UK series go, this one ranks up there with the first seasons of shows like Broadchurch and Happy Valley in terms of how it grabbed British viewers and kept them hooked through to an explosive finale. The lush $30M series has drawn comparisons to a James Bond movie — with star Tom Hiddleston’s performance equated to an audition for the next 007. It also has begged the question of whether or not there will be a second season.

Starring along with Hiddleston are Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki. After last night’s finale, Colman, who was very pregnant during filming, has also drawn her fair share of Twitter-clamor to be the first female super spy.

Reviews have been robust for the first television adaptation of a Le Carré novel in more than 20 years. The story follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Hiddleston), who is recruited by intelligence operative Burr (Colman) to navigate an unholy alliance between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie), Pine must himself become a criminal.

There is no follow-up book to Le Carré’s 1993 bestseller, although [SPOILER] the ending to the TV adaptation was altered from the original novel. An executive producer on the series, Le Carré beamed at the world premiere in Berlin in February, praising the series for which he said he “took a real backseat.” His sons Simon and Stephen Cornwell are exec producers for The Ink Factory, and there’s been chatter about discussions to extend the story. Stephen Garrett is also executive producer. The series was adapted by David Farr and is directed by Oscar-winner Susanne Bier.

I’m told there is nothing concrete at this point concerning a second season. When reached for comment on the speculation in mid-March, The Ink Factory said, “While we would love to continue the story of The Night Manager, there is currently no deal in place.” That was re-iterated today by a rep. While folks cross fingers, awards buzz is huge.

As for BBC One, it’s got six-part thriller Undercover coming next Sunday in the Night Manager slot. Starring Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester, it’s written by Peter Moffatt.

Weeks/McKay ABC Comedy Pilot Casts Tattiawna Jones As the Female Lead

by Nellie Andreeva • tip March 28, 2016 10:48am

Flashpoint alumna Tattiawna Jones has landed the female lead opposite Andy Ridings in ABC’s untitled Weeks/Mackay comedy pilot.

Written by The Mindy Project co-star Ed Weeks & Hannah Mackay and directed by Leslye Headland, the single-camera project centers on lesbian Hilda (Jones) and her best friend Randall (Ridings), a neurotic straight guy, as they navigate their dysfunctional, co-dependent friendship and the world of dating. Jones’s Hilda is an intelligent and seemingly confident lesbian lothario with a dry sense of humor – that she uses to hide her underlying fear of growing up, settling down and becoming conventional.

Weeks and Mackay co-executive produce. Andrew Reich, who supervised the writers, executive produces.

Canadian actress Jones, repped by APA and Carrier Talent Management, also recently nabbed a recurring role on the upcoming USA drama series Eyewitness.

Jaime Lee Kirchner Joins CBS Drama Pilot ‘Bull’; Fox’s ‘Chad’ Adds Regular

by Denise Petski March 25, 2016 5:45pm

Courtesy of Blue Stone Entertainment

Jaime Lee Kirchner (Mercy) is set as a series regular in CBS drama pilot Bull, from Amblin TV and CBS TV Studios. Written by Phil McGraw and Paul Attanasio, Bull is inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw during his days as head of one of the most prolific trial consulting firms of all time. Kirchner will play Danny, the team’s investigator, a former FBI interrogator with a photographic memory.

Repped by Blue Stone Entertainment, Kirchner played Mimi in the Broadway production of Rent. Her TV credits include Mercy, Just Legal and The Mob Doctor.

Ariana Molkara (Septembers of Shiraz) has booked a series regular role in Fox pilot Chad: An American Boy, a single-camera Middle Eastern family comedy co-created by and starring Saturday Night Live alumna Nasim Pedrad and directed by Jason Winer. Written by Pedrad & Rob Rosell, Chad centers on a 14-year-old boy (Pedrad) in the throes of adolescence who’s tasked with being the man of the house, which leaves him with all the responsibilities of being an adult without any of the perks. Molkara will play Nikki, Chad’s little sister. Molkara appeared in feature Septembers in Shiraz and recently guested on Code Black. She’s repped by Coast to Coast and attorney Carolyn Conrad.

‘Born To Be Blue’, ‘I Saw The Light’ Hit Solid Notes In Easter Weekend Debuts: Specialty Box Office

by Brian Brooks March 27, 2016 10:06am

Courtesy Of Sony Pictures Classics

Limited release openers had a decent start this Easter Weekend, though none popped in any super-heroic fashion. Still, in a holiday that was expected to be dominated by Batman V Superman, the launches of IFC Films’ Born To Be Blue starring Ethan Hawke, GKIDS’ animated April And The Extraordinary World and to a lesser extent, Sony Classics’ I Saw The Light, had good-to-middling results. Hawke’s Chet Baker biopic Born To Be Blue won the Specialty weekend, averaging $15,780. That places it 3rd in the overall box office in terms of per theater average, behind Warner Bros.

Batman V Superman as well as the studio’s limited release title Midnight Special starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst, which grossed $97K in five theaters in its second frame. And Bleecker Street added 88 runs for Eye In The Sky, grossing over $1M, landing tenth in the overall box office.

Ethan Hawke As Chet Baker In 'Born To Be Blue'; Kevin Costner-Narrated Baseball Doc...

IFC Films head Jonathan Sehring touted Hawke’s performance in the “re-imagining” of the jazz trumpeter’s life, as Born To Be Blue opened in three locations grossing $47,340 for a $15,780 PTA, the best of this weekend’s Specialty openers. The distributor said Blue‘s strong bow in New York and L.A. was backed up by “excellent reviews” for the film and Hawke. Sehring also credited “a strong publicity campaign by Hawke following the film’s excellent reception at SXSW.”

IFC Films will expand the title to the top 15 markets in the next two weeks, and Blue also will be available via on-demand platforms March 31.

The animated French-language sci-fi adventure April And The Extraordinary World played an exclusive run in New York, taking $12,101. The film comes from the producers of 2007 ‘s Oscar-nominated Persepolis (Sony Classics, $4.44M domestic gross). GKIDS’ Dave Jesteadt said this week that April And The Extraordinary World “has great art house pedigree, and it’s a fun genre film, but we also think it has a substantial possibility with audiences beyond those who are [drawn to] a French subtitled film.” GKIDS is releasing both a subtitled version voiced by Marion Cotillard, Philippe Katerine and Jean Rochefort, and an English-language matinee version featuring Susan Sarandon and Paul Giamatti. GKIDS will expand April to the top 15 markets starting April 8.

Opening comparatively slower was Sony Classics’ Hank Williams biopic I Saw The Light with Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. Bowing in 5 theaters, the feature grossed $50,464, averaging $10,093. The title will open in additional markets in the coming weeks.

Gravitas Ventures’ doc Fastball, Amplify’s They’re Watching and Filmbuff’s Jane Wants A Boyfriend have not reported numbers for their opening weekends as of early afternoon ET Sunday.

Warner Bros. limited release Midnight Special, in five locations in its second weekend, showed gusto. Directed by Jeff Nichols, the sci-fi thriller grossed $97K, giving it a robust $19,400 PTA, the best average among the Specialties this weekend even though down about 48% from its opening $37K per theater average last week. Midnight Special will add markets in coming weeks.

A24’s Krisha had a slower weekend as it played 20 additional locations in its second weekend. The feature grossed $38K in 22 theaters, averaging $1,727. Last weekend the film opened with two runs at $10,250 ($5,125 average).

Bleecker Street added 88 runs for Eye In The Sky in its third weekend with solid numbers. Starring Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul, the war thriller grossed $1,001,202 in 123 locations, averaging $8,140, down only about one-third from last week’s $12,194 average in 35 theaters. The title is showing momentum, placing 10th in the overall box office as of early Sunday afternoon. Bleecker Street said the “expansion clearly reflects the growing demand for the film particularly with its adult core audiences in the US and Canada.” Eye In The Sky will expand to 800 theaters April 1.

Roadside Attractions/Stage 6 Films added 360 runs for Sally Field starrer Hello, My Name Is Doris in its third weekend. The film held well, grossing over $1.7 million in 488 theaters, averaging $3,485. Last weekend, the title grossed just over $1.01M in 128 locations, averaging $7,909. The title will expand nationwide next week.

This year’s Oscar Best Picture winner and nominees Spotlight, Brooklyn and Room continue to hold their own. Fox Searchlight’s Brooklyn crossed $38M in its 21st week, while Open Road’s Oscar winner Spotlight, also in Week 21, grossed over $160K in 206 theaters, averaging $777 for a $44.34M cume. A24’s Room starring Best Actress winner Brie Larson played 34 locations in its 24th weekend of release, grossing $19K ($559 average) for a cume of over $14.48M.

'This just breaks my heart': Jon Cryer leads tributes as Hollywood mourns death of White Shadow star and Screen Actors Guild president Ken Howard at 71

• George Clooney paid tribute, saying it was an honour to work with him in Michael Clayton
• Melissa Gilbert, Aaron Paul also express sorrow at Howard's passing

By Mike Larkin For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:42 EST, 23 March 2016 | Updated: 03:24 EST, 24 March 2016

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Passed on: Screen Actors Guild president Ken Howard has died at the age of 71

Award-winning actor Ken Howard has died at the age of 71.

The performer became a household name as the coach of an inner-city basketball team in groundbreaking 70s show The White Shadow.

While he continued to appear in both film and television, his most prominent recent role was serving as president of actors' union SAG-AFTRA.

The body announced the leader's death on Wednesday, but no cause of death was given.

Executive Director David White said: 'Ken was a remarkable leader and his powerful vision for this union was a source of inspiration for all of us.

'He was an exceptional person and we are deeply saddened by his passing. He had a remarkable career and he never forgot what it was like to be a working performer.'

Two And A Half Men star Jon Cryer, who posted a picture of his father Bill Daniels on stage with Howard on Twitter, led the tributes, saying: 'This just breaks my heart.... Truly great guy.'

George Clooney, who worked with Howard in the 2007 film Michael Clayton, told Deadline about a chance encounter he had with Howard back on the Fox studio lot in Century City back in 1983.

The starstruck future ER hunk told the towering star he was a massive fan of The White Shadow, and that, 'someday I hope to be lucky enough to work with you.'

And when the generous performer discovered the young man had an audition across town at Paramount which he was going to miss as he only had a pushbike he ended up driving him to the audition.

Indeed his final words to Clooney that day after wishing him good luck were, 'I hope we do get that chance to work together.'

The Ocean's Eleven star said: 'I didn’t get that audition, But I did get the chance to work with him years later. It was an honour. Today his obituary read that he was six foot six, but he was so much taller than that.'

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Top turn: He won national fame for his turn as a inner-city basketball coach in The White Shadow

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A moment foretold: Howard appeared in the George Clooney film Michael Clayton years after telling the then unknown actor he hoped he could work with him one day

The El Centro, California-born star's career spanned four decades in TV, theater and film.

He is survived by his wife of 25 years, stuntwoman Linda Fetters Howard, and three adult stepchildren from a previous marriage.

While he appeared in a veritable smorgasbord of high-profile roles, he is best known for his turn in CBS hit The White Shadow.

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Tribute: Two And A Half Men star Jon Cryer posted a picture of his father on stage with the popular star

In the programme, which aired from 1978 to 1981, he starred as a white coach to an urban high school basketball team.

The show drew on the personal history of the 6-feet, 6-inch tall actor, as he was a talented youth athlete who played basketball growing up on Long Island in New York and at Amherst College.

He played a white former NBA player who ends up coaching a high school basketball team after a knee injury forces him to retire from the Chicago Bulls.

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A presidential performance: Howards' Thomas Jefferson chatting with Benjamin Franklin in 1776

The drama is still one of the longest-running network shows with a mainly African-American cast.

Describing how it was originally mooted as a comedy, Howard said: 'And we said, "Why do you think we are doing the show? That’s all the stuff that is out there, the demons, that these kids are dealing with.

'So the next thing you know, we are breaking all kinds of ground. I mean, we were dealing with (venereal disease) and teenage pregnancy and drugs and gambling… we figured, why not?'

His acting career soon took off after he made his film debut opposite Liza Minnelli in 1970's Tell Me That You Love Me, and he went on to win roles in the likes of Rambo, In Her Shoes and Michael Clayton.

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Still rocking: He garnered plenty of laughs opposite the incomparable Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock

In addition he appeared alongside Hollywood sex symbol Sandra Bullock in the 1995 cyber action thriller The Net.

A well-regarded actor, he won an Emmy for his performance in HBO's Grey Gardens in 2009.

A go-to character actor for television, he got plenty of laughs when he appeared as eccentric Kabletown boss Hank Hooper on NBC's 30 Rock.

Howard also earned plaudits when he played Thomas Jefferson on Broadway in 1776, a role he reprised in the 1972 film of the same name.

He won a Tony Award for Robert Marasco's Catholic boarding school drama Child's Play.

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Sadly missed: His ex-wife Margo Howard, actress Melissa Gilbert and Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul also posted messages of remembrance

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul tweeted: 'Ken, You had a giant smile on your face every time we spoke and I will never forget it. RIP my friend.'

Little House On The Prairie actress and activist Melissa Gilbert said: 'Heartbroken to hear about the passing of my friend Ken Howard. He was a joy to work with as an actor and labor leader. A true force of nature.'

His writer ex-wife Margo, his spouse from 1977 until 1991, said: 'My favorite ex-husband has died. He was a lovely guy. RIP Ken Howard. It was a terrific romance, to be sure.'

She added that her children were 'devoted to him' and that her son even took his name.

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Another presidential performance: Howard delivering the president's message at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January

Howard was also familiar to viewers of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, providing an update on the union's accomplishments during the televised awards ceremony.

He was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild in 2009 and was a catalyst for its 2012 merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union. Combined, the groups represent 160,000 actors, broadcasters and recording artists.

Explaining the rationale for the merger, he said: 'Although AFTRA was a good union, SAG was the dominant union, and Labor Law 101 is that you don’t have two unions representing the same workers because employers will exploit the divide - and they did.'

Howard was the first president of SAG-AFTRA and was re-elected to the post last year.

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Worthy winner: He got an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his turn in Grey Gardens in 2009

Joe Garagiola, Baseball Player Turned Broadcaster, Dies at 90

March 23, 2016 | 01:26PM PT

Longtime baseball broadcaster and “Today” show co-host Joe Garagiola died Wednesday following a long illness. He was 90.

The Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team announced the news on Twitter.

“God I’ll miss Joe Garagiola. Was part of the soul of our show, and told me stories that made me laugh till I cried. Hall of fame person,” “Today” host Matt Lauer tweeted.

Garagiola was a boyhood friend of Hall of Fame baseball player Yogi Berra in St. Louis, growing up in an Italian-American neighborhood known as The Hill. He began his major-league career as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946, winning a World Series in his rookie year and playing nine seasons and 676 games.

Garagiola became far better known for his upbeat personality, humor and wit, often making light of his lack of hitting prowess. He said of Berra, “Not only was I not the best catcher in the Major Leagues, I wasn’t even the best catcher on my street!”

His broadcasting career lasted far longer than his playing career. He became a broadcaster in the first season after he retired as a player, calling Cardinals radio broadcasts on KMOX from 1955 to 1962.

Garagiola authored a 1960 book “Baseball Is a Funny Game” about his upbringing and playing career, which helped establish him as a humorist. He began doing national baseball broadcasts for NBC in 1961 and called several World Series on NBC Radio in the 1960s.

After working on New York Yankees games from 1965 to 1967, Garagiola returned to NBC as the host of the pre-game show “The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola,” and then as a play-by-play announcer beginning in 1974 on the “Saturday Game of the Week” for NBC. His on-air partners included Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek and Vin Scully.

Garagiola resigned from NBC Sports in 1988. From 1998 to 2012, he performed part-time color commentary duties for the Diamondbacks while his son, Joe Garagiola, Jr., served as general manager.

He won the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford Frick Award for Broadcasting in 1991 and was the 2014 recipient of the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, presented for positive contributions to Major League Baseball. The Hall’s announcement of the O’Neil award cited his advocacy against smokeless tobacco and his role as a founder of the Baseball Assistance Team charity.

Garagiola served as a panelist on the “Today” show from 1967 to 1973, and again from 1990 to 1992. He also guest-hosted “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

Garagiola also hosted the game shows “He Said, She Said,” “Joe Garagiola’s Memory Game,” “Sale of the Century” and “To Tell the Truth.” He co-hosted the “Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show” for USA Network from 1994 to 2002.

Sesame Street actor David Smyrl dies from lung cancer at 80 years old

• David Smyrl was diagnosed with lung cancer in January, his wife said
• He died on Tuesday at Lankenau Medical Center outside Philadelphia
• The actor was best known for his role as Mr Handford on Sesame Street
• From 1990 to 1998, Smyrl played the retired firefighter who ran Hooper's Store on the children's show
• He also had roles on The Cosby Show, Benson and Express Yourself

By Kelly Mclaughlin For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 09:29 EST, 25 March 2016 | Updated: 10:22 EST, 25 March 2016

David Smyrl, known for his role as Mr Handford on Sesame Street, died on Tuesday, aged 80

David Smyrl, the Emmy-winning actor best known for his role as Mr Handford, the retired firefighter who ran Hooper's Store on Sesame Street, has died. He was 80.

Smyrl was diagnosed with lung cancer in January, his wife, Cheryl, said. He died on Tuesday at Lankenau Medical Center outside Philadelphia.

'He was funny,' Cheryl Smyrl said. 'I could say so many good things about him. He was loved by so many people. He was a mentor to a lot of children. He was a family man, loyal, true and faithful.'

A north Philadelphia native born on September 12, 1935, Smyrl performed as a poet in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, his wife said.

His television career also began in New York in the 1970s, on the show Express Yourself.

Smyrl moved to California to work on the sitcom Benson in the 1970s, where he earned him a People's Choice Award.

He also worked as a writer and actor on The Cosby Show, playing contractor Sam Lucas.

From 1990 to 1998, Smyrl played the smiling, singing store-owner on Sesame Street. He succeeded Leonard Jackson, who played a grumpier Handford.

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Smyrl was diagnosed with lung cancer in January, and he died on Tuesday at Lankenau Medical Center outside Philadelphia

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Smyrl was an Emmy-winning actor best known for his role as Mr Handford, the retired firefighter who ran Hooper's Store on Sesame Street

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He played the Sesame Street role from 1990 to 1998. He also had roles on The Cosby Show, Benson and Express Yourself

Smyrl had won the job by acting out a script where he had returned from fighting a fire, worn out, and talked of retiring and buying a little store, according to a 1997 story in the Record-Journal, a Connecticut newspaper.

'You get to act stupid,' Smyrl told the newspaper. 'It's fun! I get to do fun things like dance with Gloria Estefan.'

He enjoyed the role, because he loved children, Cheryl Smyrl said.

Since Smyrl left the role in 1998, the Sesame Street character Alan, played by Alan Muraoka, has run Hooper's store.

Prior to his days of writing and acting, Smyrl served in the Army in the 1950s.

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Prior to his days of writing and acting, Smyrl (center) served in the Army in the 1950s and was stationed in South Carolina and Texas

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Smyrl was born in north Philadelphia on September 12, 1935. In the 1960s he moved to New York and performed as a poet in Greenwich Village

When he moved to New York, the entertainer opened an acting and fencing school, according to his Facebook Page.

Cheryl and David Smyrl met in 1975 and were friends for many years before they married in April 1992.

They lived in Connecticut for several years before returning to the Philadelphia area in 2004, according to Philly.com.

He spent much of his time volunteering to perform at schools, colleges and penal institutions.

Smyrl is also survived by his stepson, Pancho Scott.

A funeral is scheduled for Monday.

Smyrl is one of several celebrities who died this week. A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dog died on Tuesday, actor Ken Howard died on Wednesday and comedian Garry Shandling died on Thursday.

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When he moved to New York, the entertainer (center) also opened an acting and fencing school, according to his Facebook page

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Smyrl married his wife Cheryl in 1992 after being friends for many years. They lived in Connecticut for several years before returning to the Philadelphia area in 2004

Phife Dawg, A Tribe Called Quest Founding Member, Dies at 45

March 23, 2016 | 07:24AM PT

A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg Was a Hip-Hop Original

Andrew Barker

Senior Features Writer @barkerrant

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

March 23, 2016 | 07:31PM PT

In his 2010 memoir, “Decoded,” Jay Z defined the central subject of hip-hop in three words: “why I’m dope.” A simplification, to be sure, but one that holds true from rap’s humblest origins, when MCs functioned as artful carnival barkers to promote their DJs, to the depths of its full commercial decadence, when displaying the size of one’s posse, bank account, gun or other phallic implement often seemed just as important as the strength of one’s rhyme book.

Of course, one scratch beneath the surface reveals a far more complicated equation: Dope is a slippery signifier. Idle boasting isn’t what made hip-hop one of the defining art forms of the last half century, and “why I’m dope” is more often than not the hard-won destination forged of failure, pain, sorrow and doubt. The possible avenues to dopeness are endless. The late producer J Dilla cemented his eternal dopeness while lying on his deathbed, looping the phrase “broken and blue” over and over. Scarface’s dopeness was built on paranoia, grief and regret. Biggie’s dopeness was both his cloak of invincibility and the self-loathing he built it to conceal. Kanye West is rarely doper than when he allows himself to look ugly and vulnerable. And for A Tribe Called Quest’s Malik “Phife Dawg” Taylor, who died on Wednesday at the age of 45, his dopeness existed not in spite of, but in perfect harmony with his 5’3” frame and three-decade battle against type 1 diabetes.

The Five-Foot Assassin. The Funky Diabetic. Dyna-Mutt. Malik the Five-Foot Freak. “A hip-hop scholar since bein’ knee-high to a duck / Height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck.” Phife was a master at pre-emptively highlighting his own shortcomings and turning them into lyrical gold. A gifted rapper who seemed well aware that he fell short of Rakim and Nas in the pantheon, Phife managed to continually thread a needle’s eye between cockiness and self-deprecation in just about every line, and few MCs have turned their limitations into virtues with more verve. “If I don’t say I’m the best, tell me who the hell will?”

For one, Phife always managed to live within, but never disappear into, the shadow of his bandmate Q-Tip, an obvious musical genius who initially cast the group in his own image. Tribe’s idiosyncratic 1990 debut, “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,” left little doubt who called the shots: Although Phife contributed a solid verse on “Can I Kick It?” and three other songs on the album, Q-Tip rapped on every single cut.

But by the time 1991’s “The Low End Theory” rolled around, Phife’s rhymes had improved dramatically, and his more-or-less equal billing provided the bedrock for the first of the group’s two masterpieces. On songs like “Buggin’ Out,” “Jazz (We’ve Got)” and especially breakout single “Check the Rhime,” the two rappers forged a tag-team alchemy rivaled only by predecessors Run-DMC and Southern heirs Outkast. (It’s not hard to trace the model for the yin-yang interplay between Andre 3000’s boho artiste and Big Boi’s streetwise sports nut straight back to Tip and Phife.) Q-Tip rapped in a nasal, singsong cadence; Phife’s delivery was plainspoken and conversational. Q-Tip reveled in absurdism and hippie mysticism; Phife was drawn to laugh-out-loud punchlines and dense pop culture references. (One former New York furniture seller never lived down a memorable appearance in a Phife lyric.) Q-Tip’s meter swung with measured, metronomic precision; Phife favored slant-rhymes and liked to cram whole mouthfuls of verbiage into the last beats of his bars. Put together, the effect was magical.

As Phife told Vulture last fall, “It just sounded like we were Siamese twins, we were so in tune. It sounded like Tip could finish off (my) sentence and vice versa, and that’s really what made Tribe Tribe.”

“The Low End Theory” went on to nab the coveted perfect “five mics” rating from hip-hop bible the Source, but Tribe’s influence extended far beyond that or any other magazine’s circulation. “Low End” and its equally impeccable follow-up, 1993’s “Midnight Marauders,” were those rare albums just as likely to be heard booming from an afterhours club as a college quad hacky-sack circle, and Tribe began to assemble a fanbase that stretched past hip-hop’s core audience, slotting in easily next to the Smashing Pumpkins and the Beastie Boys on the Lollapallooza tour in 1994.

Of course, hip-hop had already crossed over into the mainstream before Tribe hit, but the group’s ability to pick up the stragglers was hard to overstate. For anyone put off by the nihilism and confrontation of the likes of N.W.A, the group offered a gentler, sunnier antidote.

For hip-hop true believers who had just watched in horror as MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice became the music’s pop chart representatives, the group presented a fully credible display of classicist values that could still fill a wedding reception dancefloor. (As a bold newsreader in Phife’s adopted hometown of Atlanta demonstrated this morning, the group’s rhymes can even function as traffic reports.) Anyone who heard Tribe and still doubted hip-hop’s power was probably beyond all hope.

None of that would have been possible without Phife, the group’s lifeline to aspiring street-corner rappers and bedroom fantasists alike. “Marauders” and “Low End” both went Platinum, but Tribe’s influence wasn’t measured in record-sales: After all, TLC’s “CrazySexyCool” likely sold more copies than Tribe’s entire discography, but Phife’s was the first voice heard on the record. It wasn’t until 1996’s “Beats, Rhymes and Life” that the group notched a No. 1 album, yet that was the point when diminishing artistic returns began to set in. Phife only managed one solo outing, and it suffered from the absence of his partner. Though more successful, Q-Tip’s solo ventures did as well.

The two men had known each other since childhood, and like any relationship of that length, it wasn’t without some ugly nadirs. Michael Rapaport’s 2011 documentary “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest” captured several of those in often uncomfortable detail — particularly a vicious backstage blow-up at 2008’s Rock the Bells in San Bernardino – and the docu was disavowed by Q-Tip prior to its Sundance debut. Phife was the only Tribe member to attend the premiere, and he openly wiped away tears during the Q&A that followed.

How many rappers could watch their own lowest moments in a crowded theater, cry in public, and still tell festival audiences that “no MC can serve me”? Phife Dawg could, and that’s exactly why he was dope.

Peter Brown, Star of TV Western ‘Lawman,’ Dies at 80

March 24, 2016 | 12:16PM PT

Peter Brown, who played Deputy Johnny McKay on 1960s TV Western “Lawman,” died March 21 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 80.

Brown played McKay on ABC’s “Lawman” during the entire 1958-62 run of the series, which starred John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop. Brown was also a regular on NBC Western “Laredo,” playing Chad Cooper during the series’ 1965-67 run. This story of the Texas Ranger starred Neville Brand as Reese Bennett.

Brown also guested on a number of other TV Westerns, including “Maverick,” “Cheyenne” and “The Virginian.”

On the big screen during the period he appeared in Disney’s Hayley Mills musical “Summer Magic” (1963), surfing movie “Ride the Wild Surf” (1964) and Ann-Margret vehicle “Kitten With a Whip” (1964).

During the 1970s while continuing his TV career, Brown played the villain in the 1974 blaxploitation classic “Foxy Brown,” starred with William Smith in “Piranha” (1972) and starred in the horror-thriller “Act of Vengeance” (1974). He appeared in 1982 prison picture “The Concrete Jungle,” starring Jill St. John, and Fred Williamson’s “The Messenger” (1986).

Brown did quite a bit of work on daytime soaps, recurring during the 1970s on “Days of Our Lives” as Dr. Greg Peters, on “The Young and the Restless” from 1989-1991 as Robert Laurence and on “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 1991-1992 as Blake Hayes.

He was a steady presence on television as a guest actor on series including “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Wonder Woman,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Dallas,” “Knight Rider,” “Baywatch” and “Wings.”

Brown made his last screen apperance in 2005 in the feature Western “Hell to Pay.”

Born Pierre Lind de Lappe in New York City, the actor and his family moved West when he was young. While in the Army, he got into acting when he organized a theater group on base in Alaska to occupy his spare time. After his discharge he studied acting at UCLA.

Brown is survived by fifth wife Kerstin, whom he met in 2008. Other survivors include his children Joshua, Matt and Christi and three grandchildren.

Writer Tom Whedon, Father of Scribes Joss, Jed and Zack Whedon, Dies at 83

Courtesy of Jed Whedon/Instagram

March 25, 2016 | 11:27AM PT

Tom Whedon, a writer and father of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon and scribes Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon, died Wednesday. He was 83.

Whedon’s death was confirmed in an Instagram post on Thursday by Jed Whedon.

“We said goodbye to our dad yesterday. He passed away in relative peace surrounded by his wife, all five of his boys and their loved ones. He gave us the gift of his warmth and humor. We miss him terribly.

Love you dad,” Jed Whedon posted, along with a picture of his father.

Tom Whedon worked as a writer-producer on such 1970s and ’80s sitcoms as “Benson,” “Alice,” “The Golden Girls” and “It’s a Living.” He also wrote for “The Dick Cavett Show” and children’s programs including “The Electric Company” and “Captain Kangaroo.”

Tom Whedon’s father, John Whedon, was also a TV writer who worked on “The Donna Reed Show,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” among other programs.

Whedon’s survivors also include sons Samuel and Matthew.

Joss Whedon made his mark with the “Buffy” TV series, which ran from 1997 to 2003 on the WB Network and UPN. More recently he was the writer and director of Marvel’s 2012 blockbuster “The Avengers” and its 2015 sequel, “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Jed Whedon at present is the showrunner and exec producer of ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.” Zack Whedon is a writer-producer on AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire.” His past credits include AMC’s “Rubicon,” Fox’s “Fringe” and TNT’s “Southland.”

Covert Affairs alum Oded Fehr and Fernanda Andrade (The Devil Inside) have joined the cast of Marvel’s Most Wanted ABC pilot.

Fehr’s role is described only as “a well-known character from the Marvel comics who will prove a force to be reckoned with.” Andrade is Christina Santos, the tough-as-nails niece of Dominic Fortune (Delroy Lindo). Fortune and Santos work side-by-side appearing to help Barbara “Bobbi” Morse, aka Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki), and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) while also pursuing their own agenda.

Marvel’s Most Wanted originated as an Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff revolving around Palicki and Blood‘s characters. It was created and written by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Jeffrey Bell and Paul Zbyszewski, who executive produce with Jeph Loeb for Marvel Television and ABC Studios. Andrade is repped by Genesis Entertainment, Talent Works and attorney Greg Slewett.

International Star You Should Know: Birgitte Hjort Sorensen

March 25, 2016 | 10:00AM PT

Logan Lerman’s ‘Indignation’ Gets July Release

March 24, 2016 | 04:08PM PT

Roadside Attractions has set July 29 as the opening for coming-of-age drama “Indignation,” starring Logan Lerman.

The film will open in Los Angeles and New York, then expand during August. Lionsgate, which owns part of Roadside, paid $2.5 million at Sundance in January for the domestic rights to “Indignation,” the directorial debut of former Focus Features co-founder and CEO James Schamus.

The film is based on the Philip Roth novel about a brilliant young Jewish man who escapes his sheltered family life in New Jersey and his job in his father’s butcher shop to attend a small conservative Ohio college in 1951 on a scholarship — exempting him from being drafted into the Korean War. He becomes infatuated with his beautiful classmate (played by Sarah Gadon) and clashes with the college’s dean, portrayed by Tracy Letts.

Linda Emond, Danny Burstein and Ben Rosenfield also star. Producers are Anthony Bregman, Schamus and Rodrigo Teixeira.

Schamus has writing credits on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “The Ice Storm,” and produced “Brokeback Mountain.”

“This may be Schamus’ directorial debut, but he’s no amateur, and his experience — both in cinema and in life — comes through onscreen,” Variety‘s chief international film critic Peter Debruge wrote in his review of �...nation.”

Roadside generated strong box office performances last summer with a pair of specialty films — “Mr. Holmes,” which saw $17.7 million domestically, and “Love and Mercy” with $12.6 million.

News about the release date was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.

Broadway Review: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s ‘Bright Star’

Marilyn Stasio

Nick Stokes

March 24, 2016 | 07:00PM PT

A little bit of bluegrass music is quite enough of a good thing, so it’s just bad luck that “Bright Star,” a new musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell based on their 2013 Grammy-winning album, “Love Has Come for You,” opened hard on the heels of two Off Broadway bluegrass musicals (“The Robber Bridegroom,” “Southern Comfort”). “Bright Star” is Broadway-slick under Walter Bobbie’s direction, with top-rung creatives involved in the production (which began at the Old Globe) and an appealing lead performance from Carmen Cusack. But the sheer scale of the package overwhelms this sweet but slender homespun material.

The book (written by Martin from a story he and Brickell worked out together) is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and divided into two separate time frames, each with its own set of boy/girl lovers.

In 1923, a smart and sassy girl named Alice Murphy (the excellent Cusack) and a very nice boy named Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Paul Alexander Nolan) fall in love. (“You got a little wildcat about you,” he tells her, admiringly.) But Jimmy Ray’s father, Mayor Josiah Dobbs (big, blustery Michael Mulheren) has high ambitions for his son, and puritanical Daddy Murphy (Stephen Lee Anderson) preaches hell and damnation to his daughter. When Alice gives birth to a boy, the fathers force the lovers apart and make off with the baby.

Years later, in 1945, a young soldier named Billy Cane (A.J. Shively) comes home from the war and can’t help noticing how little Margo Crawford (Hannah Elless) has grown into such a pretty young woman. But Billy wants to be a writer like Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. So he packs up his manuscripts and heads for Asheville in the hope of being published in the Asheville Southern Journal. Lucky for him, his talent is noticed and encouraged by the editor of the literary journal — none other than Alice Murphy.

Eugene Lee’s versatile set looks properly rustic while performing multiple dramatic duties. There are intimate playing spaces for storytelling scenes and room for expansion when choreographer Josh Rhodes needs it for ensemble numbers with a hearty chorus of singers and dancers. But the really neat trick was constructing (on a revolve) the framework for a wood cabin to house the musicians.

Although the players are hidden or only partially glimpsed for much of the show, the sound of their instruments — guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, viola, fiddle, accordion, piano, drums and autoharp — soars through the house. Martin is an accomplished banjo player and the sweetly melodic music he writes with Brickell sounds completely authentic. But after a bunch of choruses, they also sound repetitive, like the upbeat (and endless) “Sun’s Gonna Shine” that sums up the show’s insistent optimism.

American roots music is grounded in the English narrative ballad, so it makes sense that Brickell’s literate but plot-driven lyrics are intended to advance the story. The very first number, “If You Knew My Story,” actually announces the show’s intentions. The big drawback to the chatty lyrics is that they re-hash the plot’s melodramatic content, but neglect to deepen or explore the characters, who all speak in such exaggerated twangs they sound dimwitted.

The tune “Asheville” is a striking exception. It’s a lovely song, beautifully sung by Elless as Margo, who is left behind by Billy after he makes his declaration of independence in the title song and strikes out for the bright lights of the big city. The music exerts an emotional tug that resonates in the aching love lyrics.

“If it don’t work out / You can turn around / And come on back to me / Come on back to me / You can come on home to me.” Unlike the long-winded narrative songs, the words are simple, direct and all the more poignant because Margo didn’t have the courage to speak her heart to Billy, unable to express her feelings except through this song.

Broadway Review: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's 'Bright Star'

Cort Theater; 1048 seats; $145 top. Opened March 24, 2016. Reviewed March 19. Running time: TWO HOURS, 15 MIN.

Production

A production by Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Zebulon LLC, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Len Blavatnik, James L. Nederlander, Carson & Joseph Gleberman, and Balboa Park Productions, in association with Roger Hess, Broadway Across America, Sally Jacobs & Warren Baker, Exeter Capital, Agnes Gund, True Love Productions, and The Old Globe, of a musical in two acts, with book by Steve Martin, music by Martin and Edie Brickell, lyrics by Brickell, based on a story by Martin and Brickell.

Creative

Directed by Walter Bobbie. Choreographed by Josh Rhodes. Sets, Eugene Lee; costumes, Jane Greenwood; lighting, Japhy Weideman; sound, Nevin Steinberg; hair & wigs, Tom Watson; orchestrations, August Eriksmoen; music supervision, Peter Asher; music direction & vocal arrangements, Rob Berman; production stage manager, Michael J. Passaro.

Cast

Carmen Cusack, Paul Alexander Nolan, Michael Mulheren, A.J. Shively, Hannah Elless, Stephen Bogardus, Dee Hoty, Stephen Lee Anderson, Emily Padgett, Jeff Blumenkrantz.

Bravo Greenlights Third Scripted Series ‘My So Called Wife’

March 24, 2016 | 12:30PM PT

What to watch on Tuesday, March 29...

8pm, ABC
Fresh Off the Boat
As Jessica combats a family lice infestation in “Week in Review,” Louis… well, pretty much lets her handle it. At school, Eddie’s attempt to renege on a bet he made with a teacher has a ripple effect for his classmates.

8pm, The CW
The Flash
Having learned Zoom’s identity, Barry redoubles his efforts to return to Earth-2 and vanquish the velocious villain in “Flash Back.” That means traveling back in time to trick Dr. Wells (Eobard Thawne Edition) into helping him increase his speed, because what could possibly go wrong with any of that? Oh, except maybe run-ins with good ol’ Eddie Thawne and bad ol’ Pied Piper.

8pm, Fox
New Girl
Jess’s ex-squeeze Sam (David Walton) is back in “Sam, Again,” now dating the principal (Lucy Punch) of a progressive new school where Jess applied for a job. Meanwhile, Schmidt has a crucial presentation coming up, so he puts the loft on quarantine when Nick catches a cold.

8:30pm, ABC
The Real O’Neals
Kenny joins Pat and Jimmy on a camping trip to prove his masculinity in “The Real Man.” It’s just like the old saying: No matter what your Kinsey score, everybody likes s’mores. (Okay it’s not that old a saying, but I think it’ll catch on!) Back home, Eileen asks Father Phil to stop by and address Shannon’s concerns about Catholicism after learning that she’s refusing confirmation.

9pm, Fox
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Terry loves love, but Terry doesn’t quite love the love between Rosa and Adrian Pimento. So she asks Jake to help bring the sergeant around in “Paranoia,” even as Pimento begins to fear that someone from his past wants him dead.

9pm, NBC
Chicago Med
After refusing to draw blood from a suspected DUI perpetrator without his consent, Nurse Lockwood gets arrested in “Guilty.” In other legal travails, Dr. Halstead seeks the advice of counsel regarding a pending lawsuit against him, while Dr. Charles and Reese grow suspicious as they tend to a car accident victim.

9pm, The CW
iZombie
In “Pour Some Sugar, Zombie,” Liv ingests a stripper’s brains, and I understand if you need to take a second and process that. All set? Me too. Anyway, as her latest batch of grey matter unlocks key information, Blaine exhibits some odd behavior, Ravi makes a surprising discovery, and Peyton moves back in with Liv.

9pm, WGN America
Outsiders
Wedding bells are ringing on Shay Mountain in “Day Most Blessed.” But will the festivities feature something old, something new, something borrowed, and something… deadly?

9pm, ABC
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Mack and his brother (Gaius Charles) land in the line of fire when a hate group plans to eradicate Inhumans in “Watchdogs.” Meanwhile, Simmons unlocks a potent chemical compound that could have its own significant impact on everyone’s favorite Legally-Not-Mutants.

10pm, CBS
The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special
James Corden commemorates the late-night talker’s first year with a special installment of the show’s most popular segment, with Jennifer Lopez riding shotgun. Highlights from past editions are also featured.

10pm, NBC
Chicago Fire
Responding to a possible carbon monoxide leak in a home, Severide and Cruz discover the remains of a child in the chimney that may be connected to an unsolved case. Elsewhere in “What Happened to Courtney,” Casey girds his loins for the homestretch of the campaign season, with Dawson rallying the squad in support and Alderman Becks continuing to vilify him publicly.

10pm, FX
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson
“Manna From Heaven” sends Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey on a road trip to get their hands on the Mark Fuhrman tapes, while Judge Ito decides whether they’ll be admissible evidence.

10pm, Freeform
Stitchers
The team investigates the killing of a hacker whose attempt to extort an Ashley Madison-esque website, shall we say, backfired. (TV.com scientists report that this officially brings us to Peak Ashley-Madison-Hack-Inspired TV Episodes.) Meanwhile in “Hack Me If You Can,” Cameron’s near-death experience inspires a new outlook on life, and Linus takes up in a smart house.

10pm, MTV
Awkward.
Jenna brushes off a new relationship in favor of bonding with her co-workers in “The Friend Connection.” Elsewhere, Tamara throws Sadie a très trendy birthday bash.

10:30pm, MTV
Faking It
Amy and Karma remain at loggerheads in “Karmygeddon,” as Lauren and Shane do their darndest to contain the damage. Meanwhile, Amy and Liam are keeping a secret from Karma.

LATE-NITE:
– Danai Gurira, Niecy Nash, and Chris Janson on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Susan Sarandon, John Cena, and Michael Stipe on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Adam Driver, Rachel Bloom, and Savages on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 11:35pm, CBS
– Salma Hayek, Reggie Miller, and Lukas Graham on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 11:35pm, ABC
– Tracy Morgan, Maggie Siff, John Heilemann & Mark Halperin, and Stanton Moore on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC
– Kunal Nayyar, Rob Corddry, Mireille Enos, and Atlas Genius on The Late Late Show with James Corden, 12:37am, CBS

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke dies aged 69 of sepsis from a ruptured intestine

• Patty Duke passed away on Tuesday at the age of 69 of sepsis from a ruptured intestine
• 'She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon,' said her rep Michael Stubbs in a statement
• Duke, who was born Anna Duke, shot to fame as a teenager winning an Oscar at 16 for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker
• She followed that with three seasons on The Patty Duke Show, where she starred as two wildly different cousins
• Duke then took on the iconic role of Neely O'Hara in the big-screen adaptation of Valley of the Dolls
• She was married four times and had three sons, actors Sean and Mackenzie Aston and Kevin Pearce

By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 11:51 EST, 29 March 2016 | UPDATED: 15:04 EST, 29 March 2016

Patty Duke passed away on Tuesday at the age of 69.

Duke, who was born Anna Duke, died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine.

'She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a friend, a mental health advocate and a cultural icon,' said her rep Michael Stubbs in a statement.

'She will be greatly missed.'

Duke won an Academy Award at the age of 16 for her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.

A year after her Oscar win Duke took the role for which she would become best known, as wildly different cousins Patty and Cathy Lane on The Patty Duke Show.

Duke, who was married four times, had three sons - actors Sean and Mackenzie Aston and Kevin Pearce.

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Gone: Patty Duke (above) passed away on Tuesday at the age of 69 of sepsis from a ruptured intestine

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Legend: Duke, who was born Anna Pearce, shot to fame as a teenager winning an Oscar at 16 for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker

Duke was born in Queens in 1946 and had a difficult childhood, with her mother putting two talent agents in charge of her care when she was just 8 years old.

She quickly found success working in both film and television before getting her big break at the age of 13 when she originated the role of Keller on Broadway opposite Anne Bancroft, who played Keller's teacher Annie Sullivan.

The play ran for two years before being made into a film, in which Bancroft starred and also received an Academy Award.

Duke became the youngest actor to ever receive an Oscar when she picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress.

Having conquered the worlds of Broadway and film, Duke set her sights on television next when she accepted the offer to star in The Patty Duke Show, a sitcom the had been created as a star vehicle for the actress.

She was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her duel role on the show playing both a fun-loving American teenager living in Brooklyn (Patty) and her far more refined and proper look-alike cousin (Cathy).

Duke also helped to create the characters, spending a week with producers and writers as they came up with an idea for the show, which ran for three seasons.

Despite her massive successes however, her life off-screen at this time was a struggle due to her horrible treatment at the hands of John and Ethel Ross, the talent agents her mother had handed her over to when she was just a child to watch over her career and well being.

Later in her life Duke alleged that the couple gave her prescription drugs throughout her teenager years and accused the two of sexual abuse.

Duke also claimed the couple took almost all of the money she made, leaving her with little when she turned 18 and was finally able to set out on her own.

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Breakthrough: Duke originated the role of Helen Keller on Broadway in The Miracle Worker before filming the movie with Anne Bancroft (above)

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Changes: Duke managed to score yet another now iconic role when she won the part of Neely O'Hara in the big-screen adaption of Jacqueline Susan's Valley of the Dolls (l to r: Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate and Duke)

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Ladies night: More recently Duke had a guest role on a 2013 episode of Glee alongside Meredith Baxter (above)

A look back at the life of actress Patty Duke

Duke married for the first time at the age of 18, tying the knot with director Harry Falk who was 13 years her senior.

Duke wrote about the difficulties she faced in her first marriage in her memoir, Call Me Anna.

The young actress was bipolar at the time but had yet to be diagnosed by medical professionals, which resulted in unpredictable mood swings as well as heavy drinking and self medicating.

Duke also revealed she suffered from an eating disorder and overdosed on pills on more than one occasion during the couple's union, which ultimately ended in divorce in 1970 five years after their marriage.

It was during her marriage to Falk that he sitcom ended, and Duke managed to score yet another now iconic role when she won the part of Neely O'Hara in the big-screen adaption of Jacqueline Susan's Valley of the Dolls.

Her performance as a singer who loves pills and booze was a departure from the wholesome roles she had played before in her career, and despite the less than stellar reviews at the time the film went on to become a camp classic much like the novel on which it is based.

Duke began dating another very famous Hollywood name after her divorce from Falk when, at the age of 23, she started a relationship with a 17-year-old Desi Arnaz Jr.

The pair split soon after due in large part to Arnaz's very famous mother Lucille Ball not approving of the relationship and Duke made the sudden decision to marry a stranger, Michael Tell.

In an interview with ABC she said that Tell offered her a way out of the tabloid scandal created by Ball's disapproval of her, and he also gave her another gift - her first son.

Duke and Tell split 13 days after tying the knot and had their marriage annulled, and Duke soon began dating John Astin.

That is why her son, born in 1971, was given the name Sean Astin.

The Lord of the Rings star said that his mother told him Astin was not his father later in life, but did not inform him the man was Tell, saying instead it was Desi Arnaz Jr.

After meeting Tell however, Sean had a test proving he was his biological father.

'Desi Arnaz Jr. loves me, and I love him. We are so close,'said Sean in that ABC interview.

'Science tells me … that he's not my biological father. Science tells me that Mike Tell is.'

Sean said in 2004 he still has relationships with all three men - the man who raised him, the man his mother claimed was his father and his actual biological father.

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Family: Duke was married four times and had three sons, actors Sean and Mackenzie Aston (above with their mother at her Walk of Fame ceremony) and Kevin Pearce

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True love: She spent the last 30 years of her life married to Michael Pearce (above in 2010)

It was during Duke's relationship with Astin that her bipolar disorder became worse, with her sons Sean and Mackenzie referring to her episodes as 'freakouts.'

Duke and Astin married in 1972 and separated when Sean was 11 and their son Mackenzie was 9, which is also when Duke was diagnosed with what at the time was called manic depression.

She devoted much of her life after this point to educating people about bipolar disorder, something she says was treated in her when she started taking lithium.

Duke also continued to work extensively in television, both on series and in TV movies, and in 1985 was the first woman to play the president on the ABC show Hail To The Chief.

She married for the fourth time in 1986 after meeting Army drill sergeant Michael Pearce on the set of one of her TV movies, where he was serving as a technical advisor.

Duke also proved her popularity among her peers by becoming president of the Screen Actors Guild, serving from 1985 to 1988.

She also gave birth to her third son in 1988, son Kevin.

STARS REACT TO PATTY DUKE'S DEATH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Her son Sean would become a movie star in his own right starting with his role in the 1980s classic Goonies and then in films such as Rudy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and 50 First Dates.

Sean posted on Twitter Tuesday; 'This morning Anna Pearce closed her eyes & ascended to a beautiful place.'

He also began a Crowdrise page to raise $250,000 for a mental health project in honor of his mother and her work over the years.

'Anna (her given name) fought for civil rights, gay rights and the rights of working actors to name just a few. Her greatest achievement was confronting her mental illness and making her story public. She crossed the Nation speaking and campaigning and lobbying for mental health,' wrote Sean on the page.

'My mom took her place as a mental health advocate in the greatest tradition of noble leadership.'

Mackenzie, like his mother and older brother, also found success at a young age thanks to his role on Facts of Life, going on to appear on shows including Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal.

Duke and Pearce moved to Idaho soon after their wedding where they raised there son Kevin and were married until her death.

Her last message on social media was posted on Twitter just two weeks ago, with the actress writing; '30 years ago today, Mike and I married. We having a very happy and quiet day. Love and hugs to all.'

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Tennessee native LOLO (real name Lauren Pritchard) performed several career-spanning tracks for Daytrotter recently.

She set out from Jackson to Los Angeles at the age of 15, gigging around the local bar circuit as a keyboardist in a reggae band. By 16, she was broke and homeless. Just as she was about to pack up and move back home, her close friend, Riley Keough, stepped in and offered a place to stay with her and her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.

From that kind gesture, Pritchard was able to turn her fortunes and became a musical actress. She performed as Ilse in Spring Awakening for two years and later moved to the UK to sign with Universal/Island records. She released her debut album, Wasted in Jackson in 2010, and later signed to DCD2 records in 2013 under her new stage name: LOLO.

In 2015, she released her latest EP, Comeback Queen, while simultaneously composing lyrics and music for the critically acclaimed off-Broadway play Songbird.

Check out "I Don't Wanna Have to Lie" in the player above. LOLO is currently touring, and you can find her remaining dates below:

April 30—Maquoketa, IA @ Codfish Hollow Barnstorm
May 5—Brooklyn, NY @ The Grid

Watch Video: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/03/lolo-i-dont-wanna-have-to-lie2.html

and

http://www.concertvault.com/lolo/video/golden-year_2147000143.html

Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart in Talks to Star in ‘Intouchables’ Remake

March 30, 2016 | 01:22PM PT

Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart are in talks to star in the Weinstein Co.’s “The Intouchables,” a remake of the 2011 hit French dramedy written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano.

Sources have exclusively told Variety that Simon Curtis is attached to direct the remake.

The original was released by the Weinstein Co. in 2011, grossing $416 million overseas. The movie follows an aristocrat who, after becoming a paraplegic following a paragliding accident, hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.

The Weinstein Co. quickly acquired the remake rights and set Paul Feig to pen the script. The film is high priority for the company, with shooting expected to start this summer.

Cranston is coming off his Oscar-nominated portrayal of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in Jay Roach’s “Trumbo.” He can be seen next in HBO’s “All the Way,” a telepic based on a play by Robert Schenkkan in which he portrays Lyndon B. Johnson.

He is currently filming “Why Him?” opposite James Franco for Fox and also appears in Franco’s “In Dubious Battle.” He is repped by UTA.

Hart released “Ride Along 2,” the sequel to his hit 2014 comedy with Ice Cube, earlier this year. He can be seen next in “Central Intelligence” with Dwayne Johnson, which releases June 17. He is repped by UTA and 3 Arts.

After cutting his teeth on the British TV scene, Curtis broke with the Oscar-nominated “My Week With Marilyn” and followed that up with “Woman in Gold,” which earned Helen Mirren a SAG nomination. He is repped by UTA, Anonymous Content and United Agents.

Deadline Hollywood first reported the Cranston and Hart attachments.

TV Review: ‘The Girlfriend Experience’

Brian Lowry

Chief TV Critic @blowryontv

Courtesy of Starz

March 30, 2016 | 03:00PM PT

Billed as being “suggested by” the Steven Soderbergh film of the same name, “The Girlfriend Experience” is an interesting if somewhat unfocused look at sexual politics. And if the full 13-episode experience of this provocative half-hour drama isn’t wholly satisfying, in a strange way, that’s also sort of the point.

Money can’t buy love, as the song goes, but in this series (which Starz is making available for binge viewing), a few grand can purchase a reasonable facsimile thereof, provided by Christine (Riley Keogh), who goes by the professional name Chelsea. An intern at a Chicago law firm, she’s introduced to the world of transactional relationships by a classmate (Kate Lyn Sheil), although as is so often the case, the student quickly becomes the master — or rather, mistress. “You can be whoever you want to be,” she’s told.

Christine becomes a vessel into which these wealthy men can pour their insecurities, deepest desires and fetishes. And while there’s a certain “The customer’s always right” aspect to the service, Christine generally remains in charge, in terms of how easily manipulated her clients are, how desperate to be convinced that it’s them, not their money, that’s making her swoon.

Despite the connection to the 2009 movie, the series — co-created by Amy Seimetz (who also plays a small role as Christine’s sister) and Lodge Kerrigan, who each had a hand in writing and directing all the episodes — actually bears tonal similarities to “Klute,” the 1971 movie that earned Jane Fonda an Oscar. In Christine’s impassive expressions, it’s hard not to think of the famous scene in which, during what sounds like the throes of passion, Fonda’s Bree sneaks a peek at her watch.

At first, the show feels a trifle frustrating, inasmuch as Christine dives into this strange new world without divulging almost anything about who she is, or wants to be. Viewers see a lot of her body (and the sex scenes are graphic and frequent), but they’re treated to precious little regarding what’s going on inside her head.

Gradually, though, that becomes its own kind of mystery, and helps foster a pervasive sense of unease, one that makes this “Experience” feel far more ambitious than something like Showtime’s “The Secret Diary of a Call Girl.” There’s also a pointed distinction between the way Christine is essentially dismissed at work — in what amounts to her secret identity — and the power she wields over titans of industry upon donning her costume as Chelsea.

Although it’s nice to see an unabashed half-hour drama, the unorthodox storytelling approach can be confounding. While the mood stays consistent, plot threads and clients quickly come and go; at moments, the show fleetingly turns into a big-business drama, then a thriller. Intrigue at work builds around Christine’s boss (“Boardwalk Empire’s” Paul Sparks), while Mary Lynn Rajskub has precious little to do as another partner. Elements and characters that seem significant are forgotten, giving way to interludes — like a late visit to see Christine’s parents — that shed minimal light on the story.

Still, there’s something almost hypnotic about Keogh’s performance (she was featured in Soderbergh’s “Magic Mike,” as well as “Mad Max: Fury Road”), augmented by the periodic fits and starts of the narrative. The net effect draws viewers in, but simultaneously denies them much clarity, which warrants masticating this dish for a while after watching, and even then debating whether an investment in “The Girlfriend Experience” was really time well spent.

TV Review: 'The Girlfriend Experience'

(Series; Starz, Sun. April 10, 8 p.m.)

Production

Filmed in Toronto by Magnolia Pictures.

Crew

Executive producers, Steven Soderbergh, Philip Fleishman, Lodge Kerrigan, Amy Seimetz, Jeff Cuban, Gary Marcus; director, Seimetz; writers, Kerrigan, Seimetz; camera, Steven Meizler; production designer, Aidan Leroux; editors, Greg O’Bryant, Kristina Boden; music, Shane Carruth; casting, Carmen Cuba. 30 MIN.

Cast

Riley Keogh, Paul Sparks, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kate Lyn Sheil, Alex Castillo

Start your engines! Krysten Ritter sizzles in black one-piece and thigh-high boots as she poses on a motorcycle for steamy shoot

By Iona Kirby For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:35 EST, 30 March 2016 | Updated: 15:09 EST, 30 March 2016

She could be seen zooming around on a motorcycle during season one of her hit show Jessica Jones.

And for her latest photo shoot, Krysten Ritter was also seen atop a bike - although wearing a lot less clothing.

The 34-year-old appears in the latest issue of Esquire magazine, sporting nothing but a black one-piece over fishnet tights.

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Driving them wild: Krysten Ritter poses on a motorcycle for the new issue of Esquire magazine

In one of the steamy photos, Krysten also wears a pair of thigh-high black suede boots as she leans against a motorcycle.

Another snapshot showed the actress draping her long legs over some railings while sporting a pair of stiletto heels.

Krysten got her start as a model, but said she felt like she had found what she was good at when she began acting.

'I went to these auditions and felt like I finally had some control over my life because I could always be better, funnier, show up on time, show up earlier,' she told Esquire. ''Whereas if you're a model, you just show up and people look at your pictures and that's it.'

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Smoking hot: The actress looks stunning in a black one-piece and fishnet stockings for a steamy photo shoot

Krysten explained that she enjoyed showing her personality at auditions, adding: 'I was never a wallflower. I've always been sort of scrappy.'

The Don't Trust The B**** In Apartment 23 star is appearing in her grittiest role yet in Marvel's Jessica Jones, which was renewed for a second season in January.

And she explained why it's been so great to work with a female showrunner (Melissa Rosenberg), particularly when it comes to sex scenes with Mike Colter (Luke Cage).

'I like to be in a position where I can be vulnerable and speak about things in a raw way,' she said. 'I don't want to have those kinds of conversations with a dude. With, like, a man who's older than my dad.'

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'I've always been sort of scrappy': Krysten, a former model, reveals she found her calling when she tried out acting

Krysten - who is also known for her roles in Breaking Bad and Veronica Mars - says that you won't find her playing a sidekick after a part like Jessica Jones.

'The bar is kind of high,' she admitted. 'It's hard for me to look at a male buddy comedy where I'm the girl rolling her eyes. Like, "This s**t."'

While she will soon be back to work for Jessica Jones's second season, Krysten will be also be appearing in upcoming show The Defenders.

The Netflix series will unite Jessica and Luke with Daredevil, played by Charlie Cox, and Iron Fist, portrayed by Finn Jones.

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'The bar is kind of high': The 34-year-old says that you won't find her playing a sidekick after a gritty part like Jessica Jones

FIRST LOOK: James Franco is a 19th Century doctor who weaves his spell on patient Camilla Belle in just released photos for The Mad Whale

By Jennifer Pearson For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:54 EST, 30 March 2016 | Updated: 19:20 EST, 30 March 2016

James Franco has conjured up a whale of a story in his next drama that draws inspiration from the classic book Moby Dick.

The actor is seen casting his magic upon a fragile-looking Camilla Belle in the first photos for The Mad Whale released by Franco's own philanthropic Elysium Bandini Studios.

Franco plays a doctor at a women's mental asylum in the late 1800s who stages a production of Herman Melville's seagoing tale.

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Doctor Franco: James Franco plays a 19th Century doctor who stages a production of Herman Melville's Moby Dick and looks right for the part in new photos from the upcoming film The Mad Whale

The catch is that all the players are female patients housed in the institution, some of whom are quite raving mad.

Camilla plays one of the patients who gets coached by Franco's kindly doctor.

The 29-year-old actress wanders around a darkened hall among her fellow inmates wearing a plain white gown with circles under eyes and her hair falling loose across her shoulders.

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Crazy about you: The play's performers are the female patients of a mental institution including Camilla Belle

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Impossible dream? James attempts to describe the production to his key players

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Wandering: Camilla Belle is seen wandering around the mental asylum in one photo

Her distress is evident in one photo that shows her bound in a straitjacket.

Camilla livens up a little as the production progresses and even musters a smile, and gone are the dark circles.

The Brazilian-born actress is pictured conversing with a fellow inmate played by Summer Phoenix (Joaquin's sister).

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All wrapped up: The Brazilian-born beauty gets the straitjacket treatment

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Feeling better? Camilla Belle appears to flourish as the Moby Dick stage production gets underway

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Kindly tutor: James Franco gives direction to the fledgling actresses

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Do you see what I see? Camilla Belle and co-star Summer Phoenix have a quiet communication

In pure Franco form, James dives into character with hair slicked back with gel and a curling moustache, and clothes befitting a late 19th Century physician.

Franco came up with the film's premise - a doctor at a late 19th Century mental institution stages an all-female production of Moby Dick cast with the inmates, some of whom are quite mad.

'I liked the framing device of the institution, because we wouldn't need the same production budget that actually doing Moby Dick would require,' James told Rolling Stone.

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Quite the character: Camilla Belle's character reacts to a fellow patient acting out a scene from Moby Dick

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Working wonders: Gone are the dark circles beneath Camilla's eyes as her character acts out a scene

'And because the idea of having inmates putting on a play opens up all sorts of unconventional casting possibilities, and you get all this crazy shit outside of the play.'

The actor's own Elysium Bandini Studios and USC’s School of Cinema co-produced the film, which will benefit The Art Of Elysium programs.

James, Camilla and co-star Summer Phoenix have all devoted time to the programs of The Art Of Elysium.

The Mad Whale, which doesn't have a release date as of yet, also stars Dominic Rains, Jennifer Daley, Alison Lees-Taylor among others.

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Pet project: James Franco's own Elysium Bandini Studios co-produced The Mad Whale with USC’s School of Cinema to benefit The Art Of Elysium programs

Lopez: George returns in TV Land series

George Lopez returns to TV via sitcom

Thank goodness for TV Land. It's where our old favorites go when broadcast networks look the other way.

The networks, flailing away in their quest for younger audiences, frequently overlook TV veterans who still have plenty of miles left in them. It's a shame, especially for those of us of a certain age.

TV Land has no such qualms. Two words: Betty White. Thank you, TV Land.

Two more words: George Lopez.

The popular Mexican-American stand-up comedian has been a fan favorite for years. His sitcom George Lopez (executive produced by Sandra Bullock) ran for six relatively modest seasons on ABC (2002-2007) but found increased popularity in syndication. It's still seen on TV Land's sister network, Nick at Nite.

Lopez also hosted the TBS late-night talk show Lopez Tonight for two seasons (2009-2011) and starred in the short-lived 2014 FX sitcom Saint George.

For variety, Lopez has voiced characters in a string of animated films, including the toucan Rafael in Rio and Rio 2, the three-eyed alien slug with four arms Thurman in Escape From Planet Earth and Grouchy Smurf in The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2.

So what does Lopez do now to stand out in this age of rampant sitcom mediocrity? He goes cutting edge and nicely politically incorrect with an eponymous new single-camera sitcom.

Lopez premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on TV Land. Lopez, sporting a stylish circle beard, is playing a (barely) fictionalized version of himself in a portrayal that TV Land is labeling "fearlessly honest."

"I'm excited that TV Land realizes that my personal challenges, insecurities and inability to connect are all part of my charm," Lopez says.

It's a role he was born to play and he's seriously funny. Lopez will remind some of the sensibility of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Louie, with many of the themes reminiscent of ABC's breakout comedy blackish.

Lopez revolves around the 54-year-old Los Angeles native's struggles with wanting to give back to the Mission Hills neighborhood where he grew up. Mission Hills, in the San Fernando Valley, is 71.5 percent Hispanic and 15.8 percent white.

In the comedy, George, who is recently divorced after taking a donated kidney from his ex-wife (just like in real life), is raising his teenage daughter, but feels as though he can never satisfy all the demands placed on him by the celebrity world and his homies.

He stumbles between these two worlds with the help of his driver, Manolo (Anthony "Citric" Campos, Idiocracy), and his hyperactive manager, Olivia "Olly" Michaels (Hayley Huntley, Just Go With It).

Huntley steals every scene she's in.

Also on board is his annoying and officious (white) next-door neighbor, Stephen (James Michael Connor, About Schmidt), who never seems to be happy with anything George does.

Annoying example: When Stephen complains (again) about George's privacy trees between their houses, George quips, "You know, you wouldn't even have been able to afford to move into the neighborhood if I hadn't moved in first and lowered the property values."

Stephen's wife calls that being racist.

Also in the mix is George's friend and opening act Maronzio (Maronzio Vance, Enlisted). He's always giving the black perspective on George's attempt to live in both worlds, "white and brown."

"George Lopez, you have white-man problems," Maronzio observes after George complains about his neighbor and being called a racist.

Finally, there's George's "expressive" daughter, Erica (Ashley Zamora, Gang Related).

What does expressive mean when attached to a teenage daughter? It means she's 15 going on 30. In other words, a typically precocious TV teen.

The series comes from John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, the co-creators (along with Mike Judge) of HBO's marvelously inventive Silicon Valley, one of the best shows you're probably not watching.

In Wednesday's pilot episode, "Slave for a Day," George gets talked into being auctioned off at his daughter's elite ($30,000 annual tuition) private school fundraiser as a "celebrity assistant for a day." It's worth noting that the "enlightened" headmaster at the academy hasn't used the term "slave for a day" in a while.

How elite is the academy? It has valet service. Naturally, George gets mistaken for a valet.

At the auction, George just tries not to embarrass himself or his daughter. He's encouraged when a couple of comely cougars say they're going to bid for him, but he ends up trying not to be bought by guest star Snoop Dogg.

And look for a cameo appearance by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who's surprisingly funny himself.

Twelve episodes have been ordered.

The Day the Final Episode of ‘The Monkees’ Aired

By Dave Swanson March 25, 2016 9:10 AM

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On Monday, March 25, 1968, at 7:30PM, the final episode of The Monkees aired over the NBC airwaves. When the television show about a rock ‘n’ roll band premiered on Sept. 12, 1966, no one could have guessed the phenomenon it would become. Over the 18 months that followed, the fictitious band became a real band, and their records not only topped the charts, but even outsold the Beatles.

The powers that be at NBC, however, decided that the show had run its course, and the Monkees themselves began to grown tired of the formula earlier in the season. “Quite frankly, we were getting a little jaded with the show as it existed,” wrote Micky Dolenz in his autobiography I’m A Believer. “Every week Davy [Jones] would fall in love with some girl or Peter [Tork] would be kidnapped by some bad guy, or some guy spy would hide microfilm in somebody’s something or other.”

The formula had already begun to be mutilated as the second season began. Producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider had started to poke holes in the Monkees’ facade and, in TV terminology, started to “break the fourth wall” — that being the one between viewer and cast — by making fun of certain aspects of the cliches of the show, and doing so within the show itself.

As the second season unfolded, the Monkees themselves became more involved directing episodes and giving more input into how the show looked and sounded. Hippie-esque clothing replaced the JC Penney garb as the spirit of 1967 was in full bloom, and various references to drugs, war, and the counter-culture in general were freely sprinkled throughout. In the next-to-last episode, Mike Nesmith brought in friend Frank Zappa for a guest appearance, and in the final episode, directed and co-written by Dolenz, all hell broke lose.

Titled “The Frodis Caper,” the episode begins with a sunrise scene as the boys awaken to the sounds of the Beatles’ “Good Morning Good Morning,” which was the first time the Beatles had allowed their music to be used in a non-Beatles arena. The episode is, in short, about the evil Wizard Glick (played by Rip Taylor) who is on a mission to control people’s minds via their television sets. The airwaves beam out a hypnotic eye that is, well, hypnotizing its viewers, a not-so-subtle comment on the brain deadening effects of television. “This is my attempt to address the manipulation of the American mind by the media,” said Dolenz in the DVD commentary track, adding that the Evil Eye did bear a strange resemblance to the CBS logo. “Hooray, the Monkees save the world from the evil machinations of the media … I guess it didn’t work, though, did it?”

Eventually, the boys discover that a creature called the Frodis plant had been captured when its spaceship landed on Earth, and was being used for evil by Wizard Glick. They realize they must rescue the Frodis and return it to its spaceship. Upon rescue, the plant emits this cloud of smoke, and in the process, seems to mellow out Glick and his cohorts, “I’ll let you work out that reference, folks,” adds Dolenz. The anti-war song “Zor and Zam” is featured during the “typical Monkees romp.”

As the story part of the episode ends, on walks the late singer-songwriter Tim Buckley to perform a solo acoustic version of his classic “Song to the Siren.” Buckley was a friend of Dolenz, who thought he should be introduced to the world. The beautiful song had, at the time, not been released. It remains one of Buckley’s finest moments.

As the filming of the second season was coming to an end, the Monkees (along with Rafelson and Schneider), had already begun work on the movie Head, but were still planning on a third season. “We started talking about what we would do on the next season–a live show? A variety show? A series of sketches?,” said Dolenz. “One idea that came up was an awful lot like Laugh-In. “We were, to be quite honest, getting tired of the same format. We wanted to do something a little more unusual, a little more out there.”

All of that would, of course, be of no matter when the series was canceled “by mutual consent,” he added. The show, of course, would live on for years to come. First in the form of Saturday morning re-runs, then famously in the ’80s when MTV began airing the show.

Read More: The Day the Final Episode...ees' Aired | http://ultimateclassicroc...ck=tsmclip

'The small man with the huge talent': Tributes pour in after comedy legend Ronnie Corbett dies in hospital aged 85 with his wife and two daughters at his side

• Comedian, who was best known for being one half of The Two Ronnies, died with his family at his side today
• Scottish-born entertainer collapsed in 2012 and was ill with gall bladder problems in 2014 but later made a recovery
• It is believed the TV star has been ill in recent months and he passed away in hospital this morning
• He died with his wife of 50 years, Anne Hart, and their two daughters, Emma and Sophie, with him
• Tributes to the much-loved comedian have poured from fans, politicians and the world of showbusiness
• Among those praising the entertainer are David Cameron and friends Sir Bruce Forsyth and Sir Michael Parkinson
• Ronnie Barker - his long time partner on the influential and hugely popular sketch show - died in 2005

By Richard Spillett and Anthony Joseph for MailOnline

Published: 05:46 EST, 31 March 2016 | Updated: 10:32 EST, 31 March 2016

Tributes have been paid to British comedy icon Ronnie Corbett - who died aged 85 in hospital today - with fans hailing him 'the small man with the huge talent'.

The comedian - who is best known for his appearances alongside Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies in the 1970s and 80s - has been praised by friends and fellow stars for his comic timing, his storytelling and his ability to laugh at himself.

It is understood the entertainer, who had previously recovered from two bouts of ill health, had been unwell in recent months.

His wife, Anne Hart, with whom he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary last year, and the couple's two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Corbett, were at his side when he died.

A statement from his publicist this morning said: 'Ronnie Corbett CBE, one of the nation's best-loved entertainers, passed away this morning, surrounded by his loving family. They have asked that their privacy is respected at this very sad time.'

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British comedian Ronnie Corbett - best known for his role in The Two Ronnies - has died aged 85. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Anne Hart (right), and the couple's two daughters, who were with him when he passed away

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In what is believed to be the last photo of Corbett in public, he was pictured with his wife leaving The Ivy restaurant in London in January

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Corbett is most famous for his appearances with Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies in the 70s and 80s. His friend Barker died in 2005

Friend and long-time colleague Sir Bruce Forsyth said in a statement: 'I am so very sad to hear the news about Ronnie.

'I have lost a close and very dear friend and we have all lost one of the greatest comedians and entertainers this country has known. My thoughts are with Anne and his family.'

Sir Bruce later said that Corbett was 'very adaptable', adding: 'He could work with anybody, even me. He was a one of a kind and a half.

'We loved rehearsing together. We had a sense of humour around each other - he took me for what I was and I took him for what he was.'

Talking about their golfing trips together, Sir Bruce said: 'We had some lovely times... we would laugh at each other. He was just funny. I wish I could always laugh at golf the way I did with him. I loved that he would self-deprecate... Oh, I will miss him, what a lovely man.'

Sir Michael Parkinson, another close friend of Corbett's, said of the star: 'He was a very easy man to love. He was a perfect companion. He was bright. He could tell good stories. He was funny. He was very rarely depressed.

'Anne, his wife, she'll be distraught. I mean, it was a great marriage. They've been together for many, many years, and it was a very loving partnership. We were just mates and I shall miss him terribly.'

Former Monty Python star Michael Palin told BBC Radio 4's World at One: 'Ronnie had a great sense of silliness, which I responded to greatly. He could do the serious stuff as well but there was a lovely sort of mischief, his eyes twinkled.

'He was absolutely delightful to play with and against, and do material with and, also, just a good friend too.'

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: 'Ronnie Corbett had the rare talent of making all generations laugh. He'll be remembered as one of the all-time great comedians.'

Tributes have been paid to the star from around the world of entertainment on Twitter. Thousands of fans have also taken to the social network

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Corbett died with his wife Anne and daughters Sophie and Emma by is side. The family are pictured together at an after party in 2013

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Corbett featured with John Cleese and Ronnie Barker in the famous class sketch on the Frost Report in 1966. He also played the disgruntled shopkeeper in the classic, Four Candles, sketch, which first aired in 1976

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Corbett was happy to joke about his short stature in sketches and commercials. He is pictured here in a Pizza Hut advert in 1998

Corbett spent his life on TV and radio, appearing in programmes including sketch show The Frost Report, the sitcom Sorry! and the game show Small Talk. He most recently starred in the Radio 4 sitcom When The Dog Dies.

Corbett collapsed at a dinner to celebrate him being awarded a CBE in 2012 and was rushed to hospital, from where he was discharged two days later.

His wife later said her husband had been taking a 'considerable amount of medication' following a knee operation and she believed the drugs contributed to his collapse.

He was also hospitalised with gall bladder problems in 2014 but was back on his feet a week later and was said to be 'enjoying work and life'.

In March 2014, his wife spoke out following reports he was considering retiring follow the health scare. She said he was continuing with 'contracts and commercials that he is working on'.

The 5ft 1in entertainer has divided his time in recent years between his homes in Croydon, south London and Gullane, East Lothian, which is not far from his birthplace of Edinburgh.

The Scottish home is also close to a number of seaside golf courses, which Corbett - who was famous for his love of the game - enjoyed in his later years.

Fans and figures from the world of entertainment have also flooded Twitter with tributes to the entertainer.

TV star David Walliams tweeted: 'Goodbye my friend and comedy idol #RonnieCorbett Thank you for all the laughs. It was the greatest honour to know and work with you.'

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Corbett collapsed at a meal to celebrate his CBE in 2012 (pictured), but made a quick recovery and was later said be 'enjoying life and work'

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Corbett's friend Sir Bruce Forsyth (left in 1969) paid an emotional tribute to the star. Right: Corbett with Prince Charles in 2007

John Cleese, who appeared with Corbett and Barker in a famous Frost Report sketch about social class in 1966, said on Twitter: 'Just heard about Ronnie C. So sad. He had the best timing I've ever watched. He was a great, kind mentor and a wonderfully witty companion.'

Ricky Gervais tweeted: 'RIP the lovely, funny legend Ronnie Corbett. It was an absolute honour & joy to have known him.'

Rob Brydon said: 'So saddened that Ronnie Corbett has passed away. A truly great comedian, a great man and a great friend. He was one of the special ones.'

Stand-up comedian Nick Harris added: 'RIP Ronnie Corbett. Small man. Big chair. Huge Talent. Massive loss.'

Tony Hall, director-general of the BBC, said: 'Ronnie Corbett was a wonderful comic and entertainer. A man of great charm and warmth who brought laughter and joy to millions. He was quite simply one of the true greats of British comedy. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.'

And Ken Dodd added: 'He excelled in all different branches of show business, he was a brilliant actor, an excellent comedian, a wonderful storyteller. His timing was superb.

'Ronnie was a very good, nice person. He was a very good friend and a brilliant little man - he was a great personality.

Corbett will be best remembered for his role in classic sketches in the Two Ronnies, as well as his monologues delivered from a large armchair.

Among the most famous of his sketches was the Four Candles sketch, which is named on nearly every list of the nation's favourite TV moments. His co-star Barker died of heart failure in 2005.

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He will be remembered for his monologues delivered from an armchair (left) during episodes of the Two Ronnies. In recent years, he had spent a lot of time enjoying his love of golf

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Corbett with his wife Anne and two daughters Sophie and Emma, who is pictured holding Corbett's first grandchild, Robert, in 1997

The small screen aside, Corbett's talents also extended to the theatre and big screen. He starred in a host of theatre productions such as The Seven Year Itch and Out Of Order.

In 1996, Corbett appeared in John Cleese's follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures. He played a sealion-keeper at a zoo, but he said his worst experience on the film was when he had to carry 'a very smelly baby ostrich'.

He also had roles in big-name titles such as Top Of The Form, You're Only Young Once, Casino Royale, and No Sex Please, We're British.

Corbett said of his iconic status in 2013: 'I do find the national treasure thing very touching. Actually, it brings a tear to my eye when people call me that.'

As well as a lover of golf, Corbett also supported Crystal Palace, the local team to his home in south London. The club's current manager Alan Pardew said today: 'We've lost one of our smallest fans.'

Television star Ronnie Corbett became one of Britain's best-loved entertainers as one half of The Two Ronnies but insisted being called a National Treasure brought a 'tear to his eye'

Ronnie Corbett quickly became a much-loved actor, comedian, broadcaster and writer.

He was most famous for his roles in the sketch comedy series The Two Ronnies. But he also managed to make a name for himself in the sitcom Sorry, which ran for seven years.

Corbett was born in Edinburgh in 1930 to his baker father William Balfour and mother Annie Elizabeth.

He was the eldest member of his family, with a brother six years younger and sister 10 years younger.

After leaving the Royal High School in the Scottish capital, Corbett decided not to go to university and instead pursued his dream career in acting - a love which formed while he attended a church youth club.

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Ronnie Corbett (pictured, right, with his newborn daughter Emma) quickly became a much-loved actor, comedian, broadcaster and writer

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Ronnie with his family when he received his OBE at Buckingham Palace from the Queen in 1978. He would return for a CBE in 2014

But his dreams were put on hold when he had to do compulsory national service in the RAF - during which he became the shortest officer in the British Forces at the time at 5ft 1ins.

After his National Service ended in the 1950s he moved to London to finally pursue his career as an actor.

He started off by playing roles as a schoolboy roles in films due to his height.

He rose to fame shortly after working with Ronnie Barker in The Frost Report between 1966 and 1967, which featured a mixture of satirical monologues, sketches and music.

Corbett said he became close with Barker as they were two former grammar school pupils and both did not go to university, when most of the cast and writers in the show were Oxbridge graduates.

They appeared together with John Cleese in one of the most repeated comedy sketches on British TV, Class, in which Corbett got the punchline: 'I get a pain in the back of my neck.'

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Corbett with Nicolas Parson and Carolyn Moore at the Playboy office in 1975. Figures from showbusiness have told of their sadness today

Producers recognised the chemistry between the two Ronnies and it sparked talks of giving the pair their own TV series, but Corbett went on to do the enjoyable Corbett Frollies and No that's me Over Here.

It was in 1971 when Barker asked him to feature in the comedy sketch series The Ronnie Barker Yearbook and it then became noticeable that the pair were meant to be.

Later that year The Two Ronnies show was formed and remained incredibly popular on the BBC right up until the late 1980s when Barker announced his retirement.

At the end of The Two Ronnies, they would always close with Ronnie Corbett saying 'Well, it's goodnight from me', to which Barker would reply 'And it's goodnight from him'.

But Corbett had already established himself on his own by then and was able to branch off with ease.

After Barker's retirement, Corbett had many starring roles in the theatre, including The Seven Year Itch, Out of Order, The Dressmaker, and on TV, the sitcom, Sorry - starring as the 40-something Timothy Lumsden, dominated by his mother, in the sitcom Sorry! which ran from 1981 until 1988.

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Ronnie Corbett (left) and Ronnie (Barker) were reunited for one night only when they performed a sketch together in 1999

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It was on Sir David Frost's show that Corbett rose to fame and where he met Barker, leading them to forge one of Britain's best-loved TV duos

In 1996, Corbett appeared in John Cleese's follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures. He played a sealion-keeper at a zoo, but he said his worst experience on the film was when he had to carry 'a very smelly baby ostrich'.

The following year he recorded An Audience With... for ITV. In 1998 he returned to his famous armchair in a new Ben Elton series for BBC1, as well as starring in a Pizza Hut commercial campaign.

Films he appeared in included Top of the Form, You're Only Young Once, Casino Royale, No Sex Please, We're British and Fierce Creatures.

His publications included: Ronnie Corbett's Armchair Golf, The Small Man's Guide To Life and his autobiography High Hopes. He was a keen and proficient golfer, and a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

Corbett was awarded a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for his services to charity and the entertainment industry. At a celebration to mark the award, Corbett collapsed in a restaurant in January, but recovered.

He was presented with the award by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in February that year.

Afterwards he admired his medal - which matched his blue and pink striped tie - saying: 'It's very pretty. It's a very lovely honour. I shall treasure it.'

The sketch show veteran has been involved with many charities, including the RNLI and the Variety Club.

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Corbett (pictured left with his wife) will be remembered as one half of one of the most successful comedy duos (pictured, right, with Barker)

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Corbett also starred as a put-upon grown up son in the gentle family comedy Sorry, which ran from 1981 to 1982 and 1985 to 1988

In March 2014, Corbett was among the speakers at a memorial service at Westminster Abbey for Sir David Frost, who died the previous September, aged 74, while on the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship where he was giving a speech.

Corbett was also among more than 200 celebrities and public figures who urged Scotland to stay part of the UK ahead of the country's historic vote on independence in September 2014.

He joined figures including Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell and Professor Stephen Hawking in signing an open letter to 'voters of Scotland' calling on them not to leave the UK.

Corbett, who died today, will be remembered as an excellent entertainer who was one half of one of the most successful comedy duos. He is survived by his wife Anne and two daughters - Emma and Sophie.

Igor Khait Dies: Veteran Animation Producer Was 52

Igor Khait, an animation producer whose credits include Gnomeo & Juliet and the upcoming feature Sing, died Monday of pancreatic cancer at his Los Angeles home. He was 52.

After launching his career at Amblin Entertainment in 1989, Khait served as production manager on the toon features Bebe’s Kids (1992), Quest for Camelot (1998) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).

His next gig was as associate producer on Disney’s Brother Bear, which earned an Oscar nom for Best Animated Feature. He also was a producer on Everybody’s Hero (2006), co-producer on 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet and story department co-producer on the 2014 hit The Lego Movie. Other credits include Disney’s short Leroy & Stitch, the CBS series Family Dog and Christmas special A Wish for Wings That Work, based on the Bloom County comic strip.

Until recently, Khait had been in Paris working as a co-producer on the upcoming Illumination Entertainment move Sing, featuring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly and Taron Egerton. It centers on a koala (McConaughey) whose once-bustling theater is on the skids and who comes up with a plan to revive it: by holding a singing contest that’s open to everyone and boasts a $100,000 prize. The competition draws the talented and not-as-talented of the animal kingdom. The film opens December 21 via Universal.

Khait is survived by his wife, Gayle; children Isabelle and Elias; and his mother, stepfather and sister.

‘Empire’ Launches Digital Aftershow Hosted by Ta’Rhonda Jones

March 30, 2016 | 10:05PM PT

Fox is hoping to see traffic numbers that mirror its monster ratings for “Empire,” as the network is launching a digital aftershow for the hit drama.

The first episode of the aftershow launches tonight, following the west coast return of the show, after its three-month hiatus.

Hosted by “Empire” cast member Ta’Rhonda Jones — who plays Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) assistant Porsha on the series, each week — the digital short will run on the official “Empire” YouTube channel and then will be pushed out to local Fox affiliates to run on-air.

Jones will rehash the episode and offer commentary in every aftershow, which will feature behind the scenes interviews. This week, “Empire” co-star Gabourey Sidibe is featured.

Each short episode will be posted each week at 10:05 p.m. PT after the west coast episode airs, to avoid spoilers for fans.

Watch Ariana Grande's Moody 'Dangerous Woman' Video

Clip may be first of many "visuals" for single

New Order Unveil 'Complete Music' Extended Album

Hear "The Game (Extended Version)"

By Althea Legaspi March 30, 2016

New Order has unveiled their 'Complete Music' album, which features extended mixes of all 11 tracks from 'Music Complete'

New Order have announced Complete Music, which features extended mixes of all 11 tracks from 2015's Music Complete. The recently announced edition also houses new artwork from Peter Saville.

The set was originally released and only available as a limited edition vinyl box set, which also came out last year. All but one of the extended tracks will be available for the first time on CD and as a digital download. The extended version of "Singularity" was previously packaged with the single when it was released. Both new versions will also include a digital copy of the original album. Hear new track "The Game (Extended Version)" above.

Music Complete is New Order's first album of new material in a decade and one that found the dance-rockers returning to form. "It just seemed like the time is right now to return to synthesizers and electronics, and it was interesting to see the way that technology has advanced," frontman Bernard Sumner told Rolling Stone in September. "We can now do what we've always wanted to do."

Earlier this month, the group performed "Singularity" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Having recently completed the U.S. leg of their tour, New Order will head to Europe, Japan and Australia, beginning with their show on April 23rd at Royal Albert Hall in England. This part of the tour culminates with their appearance at Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin, Germany, on September 10th.

Complete Music will be released on May 13th.

Complete Music Track List

1. "Restless (Extended Version)"
2. "Singularity (Extended Version)"
3. "Plastic (Extended Version)"
4. "Tutti Frutti (Extended Version)"
5. "People on the High Line (Extended Version)"
6. "Stray Dog (Extended Version)"
7. "Academic (Extended Version)"
8. "Nothing But a Fool (Extended Version 2)"
9. "Unlearn This Hatred (Extended Version)"
10. "The Game (Extended Version)"
11. "Superheated (Extended Version 2)"

By Jenny Eliscu, Joseph Hudak, Jon Dolan, Will Hermes, Patrick Doyle, Brittany Spanos, Andy Greene, Jon Freeman March 31, 2016

(Jason Edwards/Newspix/Rex, Broadimage/Rex)

Steven Tyler and Cyndi Lauper are the latest music icons to jump on the country bandwagon, while more and more country stars are taking cues from the pop and rock worlds. (Sturgill Simpson covering Nirvana, anyone?) The mix of albums coming out of Nashville this spring and summer prove just how wide country music's doors are open. We narrow it down to the 10 must-hears, from a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer-gone-country to some steadfast country traditionalists.

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Title TBD (Date TBD)

L. Cohen/WireImage/Getty

"Our names seem to be magic together," says Haggard of his
 partnership with Nelson. The duo
 are currently selecting songs for the follow-up to 2015's chart-topping country album, Django and Jimmie, and their upcoming shows will be Haggard's first since a double-pneumonia scare. "I'm lucky to be alive," he says. Patrick Doyle

Brandy Clark, 'Big Day in a Small Town' (June 10th)

Joseph Okpako/Redferns/Getty

Clark, a top Nashville songwriter, calls her major-label debut the "crazy, edgy cousin" of her 2013 left field hit, 12 Stories. Big Day matches heart-punch storytelling with electronics, guitar squalls and off-kilter rhythms. "I played it for a friend who said, 'This is 21st-century country music,'" she says. "And I took that as such a compliment." Will Hermes

Blake Shelton, 'If I'm Honest' (May 20th)

Kevin Winter/Getty

The new album from Nashville's top tabloid heartthrob deals openly with his divorce from Miranda Lambert and his new relationship with Gwen Stefani, his fellow coach on The Voice. "It's my job as a country singer to sing about things that have happened in real life and hope that somebody out there can relate to it," says Shelton. In addition to post-breakup fare like the first single, "Came Here to Forget," the album also includes lighter songs such as "Doin' It to Country Songs," featuring the Oak Ridge Boys. "When people hear it, they are going to understand every emotion I've gone through in the last year," Shelton says of If I'm Honest, "and that makes me feel really good." Joseph Hudak

Steven Tyler, Title TBD (Summer)

Rex/Shutterstock

Tyler traveled to Nashville to record
his solo LP, but he's not willing to pin a genre label to it – "although I am down here, and I wanted to throw in a little country flavor." The two singles he's released, "Love Is Your Name" and "Red, White & You," are certainly down-home tunes. "I want to rub noses with Alison Krauss, good folks like that," he says.
"I guess if that's called country, fucking throw me in!" Andy Greene

Maren Morris, 'Hero' (June 3rd)

LeAnn Mueller

Morris is shaping up to be Nashville's biggest breakout artist of 2016. The 25-year-old singer is following the success of her chart-topper "My Church" with a major-label debut that prizes beats as much as melodies, at times suggesting Rihanna as much as Miranda. "I worried that people might not be able to identify the genre," Morris says of Hero,which she co-produced with veteran crossover whiz Mike Busbee. "I didn't set out to prove that I'm making a country record or a pop record. I just wanted to make my record." Joseph Hudak

Netflix Orders First Original Series From Spain (EXCLUSIVE)

March 31, 2016 | 03:01AM PT

Bambu Producciones produces drama, which reteams ‘Velvet’ and ‘Gran Hotel’ director, creators, producers

MADRID – “Velvet” and “Gran Hotel” director Carlos Sedes and producers Ramon Campos and Teresa Fernandez Valdes (pictured) at Bambu Producciones will reteam to make the first Netflix original series shot and produced in Spain.

With no official title for the moment, the 16-episode Spanish-language drama, set in the 1920s, centers on four women from different backgrounds hired as switchboard operators at Spain’s sole telephone company in central Madrid.

Co-created by Campos and Gema Neira, his long-term writing partner, and produced by Madrid-based Bambu Producciones, Spain’s first Netflix original series will start production in Madrid in 2016, debuting exclusively on Netflix around the globe in 2017.

Bambu founders Campos and Fernandez Valdes will serve as executive producers. Episodes will run an international standard 50 minutes, shorter than Spain’s norm.

After the 1905-set mystery-romance drama “Gran Hotel” and “Velvet,” a romantic drama set in a rambunctious and stylish high-fashion house in ’50s/’60s Spain, Bambu’s Netflix original series returns to history to tell the story of four women from all over Spain who come to work at the forefront of a communications revolution in the middle of Madrid – a place which represents progress and modernity. As in other Bambu Producciones dramas, emotions run a wide gamut. Jealousy, envy and betrayal mix with a hunger for success, with friendship and love but, above all, with dreams.

“It is incredibly exciting to have Netflix in Spain. We are enthusiastic fans of its original series, and it is a real honor for us to now be part of this project,” said Ramon Campos. “It is a joy to work with Netflix’s extremely talented team, which is revolutionizing the television industry worldwide,” added Teresa Fernandez Valdes, executive producer of the series.

“We’re delighted to be working with Bambu Producciones, director Carlos Sedes and co­-creator Gema Neira on our first original series filmed in Spain,” added Erik Barmack, vice president of international original series at Netflix. “We’re huge fans of their work on ‘Gran Hotel’ and ‘Velvet,’ epic romances that have been embraced by our members around the world. We’re certain that our members will love this unique and engaging drama created by some of the best storytellers in Spain.”

The Netflix-Bambu commission builds on a relationship, with Netflix having acquiring both “Gran Hotel” and “Velvet.” It is also marks further recognition for a group of TV creatives from Galicia, North-West Spain, which broke through mid-last decade with Sedes directing the Campos-created 2006 drama “Life Ahead,” about fishermen’s widows.

Influenced by the U.S. mid-last-decade drama boom, and moving to Madrid where Fernandez Valdes and Campos launched Bambu Producciones in 2007, their primetime series, though produced with free-to-air broadcasters, such as Atresmedia Group, have often pushed the envelope, bringing some neo-cable edge sense of something different to productions: 2006’s “Desaparecida,” produced by Madrid’s Ganga but created by Campos, brought a sense of serialized “Twin Peaks” intrigue to a lost-daughter thriller; “Velvet” is set in an (obviously) fictionalized Spain.

Toplining heartthrob Spanish TV stars, Bambu has produced surefire primetime TV hits in Spain, a country where local fiction has, since the launch of private networks in 1990, often blown U.S. drama out of the water.

Making series which Campos termed as melding “telenovela melodrama, a British look and an American pace,” Bambu has also, however, been at the forefront of Spain’s more recent TV revolution: its international export success.

“Gran Hotel” ran for three seasons on Atresmedia over 2011-13, punching a first season 18.5% audience share. Sold and co-produced by Beta Film, the Italian reversion aired on RAI primetime in Italy. Original has broadcast on major Gallic broadcaster M6, U.K.’s Sky Arts and, in the U.S. on VmeTV. Beta Film senior VP Christina Gockel described “Gran Hotel” as one of Beta’s “biggest sales hits and franchises of recent years.”

In a pioneering move, Bambu also teamed with Atresmedia and BBC Worldwide to produce the high-concept English-language sci-fi drama “The Refugees.”

Catero Alain Colbert Sings For Showtime’s ‘Roadies’; Todd Williams Joins TNT’s ‘Good Behavior’

by Erik Pedersen March 30, 2016 5:07pm

Catero Alain Colbert has booked a recurring role on Roadies, Cameron Crowe’s hourlong Showtime comedy that premieres June 26. The series gives an insider’s look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of “roadies” who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way. It chronicles the rock world through the eyes of music’s unsung heroes and pays homage to the backstage workers who put the show on the road while touring the United States for the successful arena-level group, The Staton-House Band. Colbert plays the group’s lead singer, Tom Staton. His credits include Stitchers, About a Boy and the Naruto franchise. He is repped by SK Management.

Todd Williams is set to recur on Good Behavior, the TNT drama series that’s set to premiere in the summer. Based on the Letty Dobesh books by Blake Crouch, Good Behavior tells the story of Letty (Michelle Dockery), a thief and a con artist whose life is always one wrong turn, one bad decision from implosion — which is exactly how she likes it. Fresh out of prison, Letty is attempting to stay afloat. But when she overhears a hitman (Juan Diego Botto) being hired to kill a man’s wife, she sets out to derail the job. Williams will play Sean, a man from Letty’s past who comes back into her life with a complicated and devastating agenda. Repped by TalentWorks, Trademark Talent and Jackoway Tyerman, Williams’ credits include San Andreas, Teen Wolf, The Vampire Diaries and The Chicago Code.

By Andy Daglas

8 hours ago

What to watch on Thursday, March 31...

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE, 7pm, Ovation
The Brilliant Brontë Sisters
English actor and writer Sheila Hancock explores the environs that helped shaped the works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. Her journey takes her from the Yorkshire moors to Brussels to Scarborough.

SEASON 1 FINALE, 8pm, NBC
You, Me and the Apocalypse
It’s the end of the world as they know it in “End of Days,” and they feel… well, “fine” may not quite be the right word. But life goes on until the lights officially go out, including a jailbreak, a rescue, and an eleventh-hour sacrifice.

8pm, Bravo
Inside the Actors Studio
Christopher Meloni dishes about his time on Oz and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, along with his current role on Underground. But you just know Lipton is going to focus the bulk of the conversation on Meloni’s signature turn as Gene in Wet Hot American Summer.

8pm, CBS
The Big Bang Theory
Amy’s purchase of a new laptop for Sheldon triggers a shocking revelation in “The Solder Excursion Diversion. Elsewhere, Leonard and Howard fib to their wives in order to catch a movie, but Raj sells them out.

8pm, The CW
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
“Left Behind” finds Ray, Sara, and Kendra stranded in the ‘50s, and I don’t mean because they can’t catch a cab out of Midtown. As months pass with no sign of the Waverider’s return, the trio decide to make the best of their new time-displaced lives—which, for the White Canary, means looking up her old boss, Ra’s al Ghul.

8pm, ABC
Grey’s Anatomy
Meredith moves forward with Will but immediately believes she’s made a huge mistake, while Amelia reexamines her relationship with Owen and Maggie recognizes a rift with Andrew. Meanwhile in “When It Hurts So Bad,” a visit from Catherine upsets April and Jackson’s apple cart.

SEASON 1 FINALE, 8:30pm & 9pm, CBS
Life in Pieces
Tim dons a Disney princess outfit to bring his team good luck during March Madness in “Cinderella Fantasy Prom Dougie,” while Tyler fields unwanted advice about prom and Jen fixes up Matt with a coworker (Fortune Feimster). Then “Crytunes Divorce Tablet Ring” finishes the freshman season with John and Joan spilling a long-kept secret, Greg quitting his job to become a crowdfunded inventor, and Matt and Colleen’s book party hitting one delay after another.

9pm, The CW
The 100
In “Stealing Fire,” Clarke makes a momentous realization, Octavia makes a momentous decision, and Kane and Abby realize a decisive moment.

9pm, ABC
Scandal
After the first GOP debate, Olivia stumbles upon some dirt on an opponent in “The Miseducation of Susan Ross.” As her team verifies its authenticity, Cyrus pulls his own political strings and David navigates a romantic imbroglio.

9:30pm, CBS
2 Broke Girls
In “And the Pity Party Bus,” Caroline signs over the rights to her life story so it can become a biopic, Randy dumps Max through his therapist, and Eliot and Caroline rent out a party bus to cheer up the subsequently heartbroken Max. Sounds like everybody here is making sound life choices, carry on then.

SERIES PREMIERE, 10pm, CBS
Rush Hour
A buttoned-down Hong Kong detective teams with a motor-mouthed L.A.P.D. detective in this adaptation of the hit movie franchise, co-developed by Bill Lawrence. The pilot pairs up the new partners to probe the pilfering of Chinese artifacts.

SEASON 7 PREMIERE, 10pm, FX
Archer
This season the gang opens a detective agency, or something like that, because we all know it doesn’t really matter what they do: Brett is going to get shot to hell anyway. “The Figgis Agency” kicks off their latest incarnation with a mansion break-in and a mission to restore the honor of a Hollywood star.

SEASON 1 FINALE, 10pm, NBC
Shades of Blue
Desperate to protect her crew, Harlee offers Stahl a deal in which she’ll exchange her own immunity for theirs. Elsewhere in “One Last Lie,” Miguel confronts Harlee and demands to be a part of Cristina’s life, even as his dark side comes out.

10pm, Spike
Lip Sync Battle
The Walking Dead stars Lauren Cohan and Sonequa Martin-Green compete. If there was ever a week you might hear “Zombie” by The Cranberries on Lip Sync Battle, this is it.

10pm, ABC
The Catch
In “The Real Killer,” a man wrongly imprisoned for murdering his wife hires Alice and the team to clear his name, but Alice is preoccupied with her own goal of tracking down Ben. And speaking of the con man, he and his crooked confederates are cooking up a way to replenish their coffers after Alice pulled the rug out from under their last scheme.

10pm, History
Vikings
King Ecbert’s designs on the crown of Mercia come to light in “The Profit and the Loss,” while enigmatic wanderer Harbard has his own designs on the ladies of Kattegat. Outside Paris, the Viking horde hurls itself at Rollo’s fortifications.

11pm, History
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
Lars Ulrich, Tom Papa, and journalist Alan Light debate history’s most influential band. Sure, the mind immediately goes to someone like The Beatles or N.W.A. But remember, we’re talking about all of history here. Don’t sleep on Habsburg Emperor Philip IV’s thrash metal trio, the Pain in Spain.

LATE-NITE:
– The cast and director of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Taylor Lautner, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Weezer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Sarah Paulson, Tatiana Maslany, and Wynton Marsalis, Lil Buck, & Jared Grimes on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 11:35pm, CBS
– Bill Murray, Neel Sethi, and TWENTY88 on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 11:35pm, ABC
– Pharrell Williams, Andrew Rannells, Corbin Maxey, and Stanton Moore on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC
– Luke Bryan, Sam Heughan, and Rita Wilson on The Late Late Show with James Corden, 12:37am, CBS

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/Ri1iIAY.jpg?1[/img:$uid]

Tiger Woods Won't play in Masters

April 2016
Link


Tiger Woods has a lifetime invitation to play in the Masters. He won’t, however, be making use of it this year.

The four-time winner of the Masters made it official Friday by announcing he would miss the 80th edition of the Masters, which starts April 7 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

The 14-time major champion hasn’t competed since the second of two back surgeries in October. He last played in the Wyndham Championship in August, where he tied for 10th.

“After assessing the present condition of my back, and consulting with my medical team, I've decided it's prudent to miss this year's Masters,” Woods said on his blog. “I've been hitting balls and training daily, but I'm not physically ready. I've said all along that this time I need to be cautious and do what's best for my long-term health and career.

Unfortunately, playing Augusta next week wouldn't be the right decision. I'm absolutely making progress, and I'm really happy with how far I've come, but I still have no timetable to return to competitive golf.”

Woods, who won the green jacket in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005, also did not play in the 2014 Masters after having back surgery March 31 of that year.

There is no timetable for his return.

“I'd like to express my disappointment to Billy Payne, the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I won't be competing. It's a very important and special week to me, and it's upsetting to miss it.” Woods said.

“I do plan to attend the Champions Dinner and see a lot of old friends. I'd like to thank the fans for their concern and support. The last few years have been difficult, but I have the best fans anywhere, and I want them to know that.”

Iggy's back with another cinematic video for “Team,” the first single off her upcoming sophomore album Digital Distortion.

Thanks ID!

Review: Remembering David Bowie, With One Artist and One Song at a Time

Ann Wilson of Heart singing “Let’s Dance” at “The Music of David Bowie” tribute concert Thursday night at Carnegie Hall. Credit Nicole Fara Silver for The New York Times

A tribute is not a resurrection. “The Music of David Bowie,” at Carnegie Hall on Thursday night, manifested Mr. Bowie’s absence as much as his legacy, in a concert featuring Michael Stipe, Laurie Anderson, Cat Power, Perry Farrell, the Pixies, the Flaming Lips and Heart’s lead singer, Ann Wilson.

Performing one song each, they grasped at some strands of Mr. Bowie’s achievements: his bounding riffs and encompassing melodies, the aphorisms and enigmas of his lyrics, his arty stratagems, his fashion sense. They looked beyond his hits (though not to any songs he wrote after the 1980s). Yet Mr. Bowie’s quintessential elegance — the seamless way he merged unruly passions and ideas with coolheaded calculation — couldn’t be reproduced.

Photo

Debbie Harry of Blondie and Matt Katz-Bohe performed “Starman,” getting the audience on its feet to sing along. Credit Nicole Fara Silver for The New York Times

The concert was the 2016 edition of the annual tribute to a songwriter produced by Michael Dorf of City Winery to benefit children’s music education.

It had been planned since October 2015, when Mr. Bowie approved it and his longtime producer, Tony Visconti, signed on to lead the house band. The show was announced just before Mr. Bowie’s death on Jan. 10, and the outpouring of respect and grief for Mr. Bowie made it an immediate sellout. A second concert, with a slightly different lineup, was added on Friday night at Radio City Music Hall.

With Mr. Visconti as bandleader and bass player, and Woody Woodmansey — who played on Bowie albums from 1970 to 1973 — on drums, the band was most at home in Mr. Bowie’s glam-rock era. It got exactly the right frontwoman when Debbie Harry of Blondie — in a silvery poncho — sang “Starman” with equal parts of bravado, experience and pop welcome, getting the audience on its feet to sing along with the “la-las” of the chorus. Ms. Wilson had red shoes to match the lyrics of Mr. Bowie’s 1983 hit “Let’s Dance,” and she traded his restraint for arena swagger as she swooped up to belt some high notes.

Cyndi Lauper battled sound problems as she twirled her way through “Suffragette City.” Mr. Farrell, sartorially splendid in a brown suit, black cape and floppy hat, mostly smiled and posed as he teased at the androgyny of “Rebel Rebel.” The night’s most flamboyant costuming arrived with the Flaming Lips, as Wayne Coyne — in gold lamé, a silvery ruff and a long cape with its own LED light show — perched on the shoulders of someone dressed as Chewbacca and sang “Life on Mars?” He answered the song’s closing question, “Is there life on Mars?,” with a cheerful “Yes!”

Photo

Michael Stipe and Karen Elson during a performance of “Ashes to Ashes.” Credit Nicole Fara Silver for The New York Times

Other performers tinctured Mr. Bowie’s arrangements with their own styles. Ms. Anderson treated the verses of “Always Crashing in the Same Car” as a recitation punctuated by her electric violin. Gypsy fiddle replaced synthesizer, and party-hearty spirit took over, as Eugene Hutz and other members of Gogol Bordello romped through “Breaking Glass.” Rickie Lee Jones played “All the Young Dudes” alone on acoustic guitar, singing it with conversational ease, switching it from a shared anthem to a lone rumination. Cat Power brought a husky soul intimacy to “Five Years.”

Bettye LaVette and Mr. Bowie both recorded “It Ain’t Easy” in 1972, and she strutted through her version of the song with soul dynamics. The Pixies performed their own “Cactus,” which Mr. Bowie recorded on his 2002 album, “Heathen”; David Lovering, on drums, replaced the “P-I-X-I-E-S” cheer from the original version with “B-O-W-I-E.” J Mascis, joined by Sean Lennon, sang the comically mundane rewrite of Mr. Bowie’s “Quicksand” that he recorded with Dinosaur Jr. Joseph Arthur tried “The Man Who Sold the World” with electric guitar and a looping device; it was a shambles, though he got a round of applause by unfurling an American flag with a blunt anti-Donald Trump message written on it.

But the deepest dialogue with Mr. Bowie’s music came from Mr. Stipe, performing “Ashes to Ashes.” Paul Cantelon, on piano, gave the arrangement the formality of a Schubert lied, and Mr. Stipe sang in a troubled whisper answered by the ghostly soprano of Karen Elson, newly illuminating the song’s thoughts of druggy oblivion. Speaking about Mr. Bowie, Mr. Stipe said, “Whether or not he’s here in this room, he is most certainly here in this room.” For that song, at least, Mr. Bowie’s spirit of continual transformation endured.

New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class Carries a Distinctly ’70s Vibe

April 1, 2016 | 10:00AM PT

‘Starman’ Remake in the Works at Sony; Shawn Levy Directing

April 1, 2016 | 10:24AM PT

‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Renewed for 2 More Seasons

April 1, 2016 | 11:30AM PT

Showtime Offers Free Online Preview of ‘Dice’ Pilot, ‘House of Lies’ Premiere

April 1, 2016 | 11:48AM PT

Showtime has made the first episode of its Andrew Dice Clay comedy and the fifth season premiere of “House of Lies” available for free online prior to their April 10 linear bows in an effort to generate sampling and buzz for both series.

The episodes, cleaned up to meet at TV-14 rating, were made available Friday through Amazon, Apple, YouTube, Hulu, Roku, PlayStation Vue and other streaming platforms.

Inspired by his real life, “Dice” focuses on comedian Clay as he moves his family to Las Vegas in hopes of making a comeback. The series created by “Old School” writer Scot Armstrong also features Kevin Corrigan and guest appearances by Natasha Leggero, Lorraine Bracco, Adrien Brody, Michael Rapaport, Wayne Newton and Rita Rudner.

“House of Lies” follows Don Cheadle’s Marty Kaan, a manipulative, immoral man who’s determined to graduate from millionaire management consultant to global titan. The dramedy also stars Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson.

‘Dice’: Showtime’s Andrew Dice Clay Comedy Gets Trailer, Premiere Date

The two episodes will be available free to non-Showtime subscribers across a range of streaming platforms. Showtime is making all six episodes of “Dice” available online to subscribers on April 10, another example of traditional networks recognizing the growing appetite among TV buffs for binge-watching options.

On air, “Dice” and “House of Lies” will premiere back to back in the 9 p.m. hour on April 10.

(Pictured: “Dice”)

NBC Adds to Summer Premieres With ‘The Night Shift,’ ‘Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge’

Rick Kissell

Senior Editor @ratesrick

Courtesy of NBC

April 1, 2016 | 10:22AM PT

NBC has added to its large inventory of firstrun summer programming with premiere dates for two more series: returning medical drama “The Night Shift” and new alternative competition series “Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge.”

The network announced Friday that “The Night Shift” will kick off its third season on Wednesday, June 1 at 10. That will give it a three-week head start opposite CBS’ new scripted drama “American Gothic,” which bows June 22.

“Night Shift,” one of three medical dramas currently on the NBC roster (alongside “Chicago Med” and “Heartbeat”), averaged a 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 7 million viewers overall during its second season on Mondays last spring, according to Nielsen’s “live plus-7” averages. The series from Sony Pictures Television stars Eoin Macken, Jill Flint, Ken Leung, Brendan Fehr, Robert Bailey Jr., JR Lemon, Tanaya Beatty and Scott Wolf.

“Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge” makes its debut Monday, June 13 at 10 p.m., with a special preview episode airing behind “American Ninja Warrior.” It will have another preview the following Monday, before sliding into its regular 9 p.m. Thursday timeslot on June 23, where its competition will include CBS’ “Big Brother.”

Inspired by Spartan Race — the creators of the world’s most demanding obstacle course races — “Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge” raises the bar on team competitions. Groups of friends, families, co-workers and more must work together as they race across specially challenged Spartan courses engineered to test their determination, endurance and will. Teams of five will compete on one of the most demanding courses ever devised and will have to push through the pain to win $250,000.

“Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge” is executive produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions’ founders Arthur Smith and Kent Weed (“Hell’s Kitchen,” “Unsung, “Ellen’s Design Challenge”), along with Anthony Storm (“American Ninja Warrior”).

‘Sharknado 4’ Sets Title and Premiere Date on Syfy

Laura Prudom

News Editor @lauinla

Courtesy of Syfy

April 1, 2016 | 09:30AM PT

The fourth installment in Syfy’s cult “Sharknado” franchise is paying homage to “Star Wars” with its title newly revealed title: “Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.” Syfy also announced the premiere date for the telepic, which will air Sunday, July 31 at 8 p.m. on the cable network.

Set five years after the East Coast was ravaged in last summer’s “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No,” Fin (Ian Ziering), his family and the cosmos have been blissfully sharknado-free in the intervening years, but now sharks – and ‘nados! – are being whipped up in places (and ways) least expected.

Tara Reid will return as April Wexler to reveal the outcome of the fan-voted #AprilLives or #AprilDies social campaign, which will determine the fate of her character. David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman will also reprise their “Sharknado 3” roles, alongside new cast additions including Gary Busey, Cheryl Tiegs, Tommy Davidson, Imani Hakim, Cody Linley and Masiela Lusha.

“Sharknado: The 4th Awakens” is a production of The Asylum. Anthony C. Ferrante returns to direct an original screenplay written by Thunder Levin.

Nielsen estimates that “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No” averaged a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 2.81 million viewers for its 9 p.m. premiere — down from 2014’s “Sharknado 2: The Second One” (1.3 in 18-49, 3.87 million viewers overall). Still, “Sharknado 3” delivered ratings about three times the network’s average.

The original “Sharknado,” which aired in July 2013, drew a modest 0.4 demo rating and 1.37 million viewers for its premiere, but social media helped turn the film into a minor cultural phenomenon and a couple of replays fared better in the ratings.

Syfy is hoping to replicate the watercooler success of the franchise on April 1, with the premiere of zombie western “Dead 7,” another nostalgia-fueled genre pic which features alums of ’90s boybands including the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, 98 Degrees and O-Town.

Freddie Prinze Jr. to Host USA Network’s Competition Series ‘First Impressions’

April 1, 2016 | 12:17PM PT

Freddie Prinze Jr. has been tapped to host USA Network’s unscripted competition series, “First Impressions.”

The half-hour reality show, which is described as a battle of impressionists, will feature “SNL” alum Dana Carvey as an expert mentor to contestants. The series pits America’s best amateur impressionists against each other in a battle of celebrity impressions with the studio audience crown a winner each week.

“‘First Impressions’ gives up-and-coming impressionists a unique opportunity to share their skills with the master,” said Prinze Jr., “I’ve always been a huge fan of Dana and watching him in action, working with our talented competitors, is incredible.”

“First Impressions” has also lined up an impressive roster of celebrity guests including Steve Carell, Jay Leno, Kevin Nealon, Yvette Nicole Brown, Tom Arnold, Jon Lovitz and Kate Flannery, who will all coach the aspiring impressionists through challenges.

Prinze Jr. rose to fame in the ’90s, starring in teen favorite films including “She’s All That” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” He also appeared in the final season of “24,” and more recently, he’s lent his voice talents to animated series “Robot Chicken” and “Star Wars Rebels.” The series marks his foray into the hosting world.

The series hails from Renegade 83 and Gaspin Media. Carvey, Jeff Gaspin, David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe are all exec producers.

Guns N’ Roses Reveal Dates, Venues for 2016 U.S. Stadium Tour

By Nick DeRiso April 1, 2016 3:35 PM

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Dave Kotinsky / Ethan Miller / Theo Wargo, Getty Images

On the same day Guns N’ Roses announced a surprise warm-up gig at a Los Angeles nightclub, they provided more information on a lengthier string of reunion dates.

Dubbed “Not in This Lifetime,” this stadium tour will include 20 previously mentioned cities – St. Louis was removed – including Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Seattle, among others. The list below has now been updated with venues and dates.

Tonight’s show at the Troubadour is Guns N’ Roses’ first concert with Slash and Duff McKagan in the lineup since 1993. After that, GNR moves on to the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (April 8-9), the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. (April 16 and 23) and Foro Sol in Mexico City (April 19-20).

Get yourself ready for this long-awaited tour with some free stuff: Click here to find how to win a poster signed by the band as well as a premium membership to Nightrain.

Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Not in This Lifetime’ 2016 Tour:
4/8-9 – Las Vegas, NV: T-Mobile Arena
4/16 – Indio, CA: Coachella Music Festival
4/19-20 – Mexico City: Foro Sol
4/23 – Indio, CA: Coachella Music Festival
6/23 – Detroit, MI: Ford Field
6/26 – Washington, DC: Fedex Field
6/29 – Kansas City, MO: Arrowhead Stadium
7/1 – Chicago, IL: Soldier Field
7/6 – Cincinnati, OH: Paul Brown Stadium
7/9 – Nashville, TN: Nissan Stadium
7/12 – Pittsburgh, PA: Heinz Field
7/14 – Philadelphia, PA: Lincoln Financial Field
7/16 – Toronto, ON: Rogers Centre
7/19 – Foxboro, MA: Gilette Stadium
7/23 – East Rutherford, NJ: MetLife Stadium
7/27 – Atlanta, GA: Georgia Dome
7/29 – Orlando, FL: Orlando Citrus Bowl
7/31 – New Orleans, LA: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
8/3 – Arlington, TX: AT&T Stadium
8/5 – Houston, TX: NRG Stadium
8/9 – San Francisco, CA: AT&T Park
8/12 – Seattle, WA: CenturyLink Field
8/15 – Glendale, AZ: University of Phoenix Stadium
8/22 – San Diego, CA: Qualcomm Stadium

Read More: Guns N’ Roses Reveal Da...adium Tour | http://ultimateclassicroc...ck=tsmclip

Guns N' Roses: See Video, First Photos of Axl Rose, Slash Reunited

"Classic" lineup kickstarts their Not in This Lifetime tour with intimate Troubadour show

First full details on Paul McCartney's new 'Pure McCartney' album

Steve Marinucci

Paul McCartney Examiner

March 31, 2016 9:39 AM MST

Play

The McCartney song "Hope For the Future" included on all three versions of "Pure McCartney."

YouTube

Paul McCartney Thursday officially announced his new Pure McCartney compilation. The career-spanning compilation will be released June 10 in 2-CD and 4-CD sets along with a four-LP vinyl versions. It will also be available digitally on iTunes. The cover has a picture of a bearded McCartney. The announcement came a day after some of the details along with the artwork were leaked online.

Linda McCartney/MPL Communications Ltd.

© 1970 Paul McCartney/Photographer: Linda McCartney

The 2-CD set with 39 tracks will list for $19.98, while the 4-CD deluxe edition with 67 tracks and a book will list for $34.99 digitally and $39.98 for the physical set. The 41-track vinyl set, pressed on four discs on 180g vinyl, will list for $69.98.

McCartney says the new album was put together for a fun listen. “Me and my team came up with the idea of putting together a collection of my recordings with nothing else in mind other than having something fun to listen to,” he says in notes in the new album. “Maybe to be enjoyed on a long car journey or an evening at home or at a party with friends. So we got our heads together and came up with these diverse play lists from various periods of my long and winding career. The word career is a bit misleading because to me it has been more like a musical adventure than a 'proper job.'

“It pleases me, and often amazes me, that I’ve been involved in the writing and recording of so many songs, each of them so different from the others. But on my next long car journey. this will be the soundtrack for the ride, and what a great ride it has been coming up with these songs. So jump in your hot rod or relax in your hot bath and give these ditties a spin and remember that if half of the pleasure we had in putting this collection together communicates itself to you, we’ll all be riding high!”

The titles on the 2-CD standard edition are Disc 1: “Maybe I'm Amazed,” “Heart of the Country,” “Jet,” “Warm and Beautiful,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Dear Boy,” “Silly Love Songs,” “The Songs They Were Singing,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “Another Day,” “Sing the Changes,” “Jenny Wren,” “Save Us,” “Mrs. Vandebilt,” “Mull of Kintyre,” “Let 'Em In,” "Let Me Roll It," “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five,” and “Ebony and Ivory.” Disc 2 will have “Band on the Run,” “Arrow Through Me,” “My Love,” “Live and Let Die,” “Too Much Rain,” “Goodnight Tonight,” “Say Say Say (2015 Remix),” “My Valentine,” “The World Tonight,” “Pipes of Peace,” “Dance Tonight,” “Here Today,” “Wanderlust,” “Great Day,” “Coming Up,” “No More Lonely Nights,” “Only Mama Knows,” “With a Little Luck,” “Hope For the Future” and “Junk.”

The 4-CD deluxe version is configured differently. The titles on Disc 1 are “Maybe I'm Amazed,” “Heart of the Country,” “Jet,” “Warm and Beautiful,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Dear Boy,” “Silly Love Songs,” “The Songs They Were Singing,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “Early Days,” “Big Barn Red,” “Another Day,” “Flaming Pie,” “Jenny Wren,” “Too Many People,” “Let Me Roll It” and “NEW.” On Disc 2 are “Live and Let Die,” “English Tea,” “Mull of Kintyre,” “Save Us,” “My Love,” “Bip Bop,” “Let 'Em In,” “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five,” “Calico Skies,” “Hi Hi Hi,” “Waterfalls,” “Band on the Run,” “Appreciate,” “Sing the Changes,” “Arrow Through Me,” “Every Night,” “Junior's Farm” and “Mrs. Vandebilt.” Disc 3 will have “Say Say Say (2015 Remix),” “My Valentine,” “Pipes of Peace,” “The World Tonight,” “Souvenir,” “Dance Tonight,” “Ebony and Ivory,” “Fine Line,” “Here Today,” “Press,” “Wanderlust,” “Winedark Open Sea,” “Beautiful Night,” “Girlfriend,” “Queenie Eye,” “We All Stand Together”

The tracks on the fourth disc on the 4-CD set are “Coming Up,” “Too Much Rain,” “Good Times Coming”/“Feel the Sun,” “Goodnight Tonight,” “Baby's Request,” “With a Little Luck,” “Little Willow,” “Only Mama Knows,” “Don't Let It Bring You Down,” “The Back Seat of My Car,” “No More Lonely Nights,” “Great Day,” “Venus and Mars”/“Rock Show,” “Temporary Secretary,” “Hope for the Future” and, finally, “Junk.” The tracks and their order was the lineup shown in the second audio montage released Wednesday. The build up to this announcement started Tuesday with the release of a six-second collage a day earlier.

The 4-disc vinyl set will have “Maybe I'm Amazed,” “Heart of the Country,” “Jet,” “Warm and Beautiful,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Dear Boy” on Disc 1, Side 1 “Silly Love Songs,” “The Songs They Were Singing,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” “Another Day” and “NEW" on Disc 1, Side 2, “Mull of Kintyre,” “Sing the Changes,” “Jenny Wren,” “Mrs. Vandebilt” and “Save Us on Disc 2, Side 3, “Let 'Em In,” “Let Me Roll It,” “Ebony and Ivory,” “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” on Disc 2, Side 4.

“Band on the Run,” “Arrow Through Me,” “My Love,” “Live and Let Die,” “Too Much Rain” will be on Disc 3, Side 5, “Say Say Say (2015 Remix),” “My Valentine,” “Goodnight Tonight,” “The World Tonight,” “Pipes of Peace” on Disc 3, Side 6, “Dance Tonight,” “Here Today,” “Wanderlust,” “Great Day,” “Coming Up,” “No More Lonely Nights” on Disc 4, Side 7, and “Too Many People,” “Only Mama Knows,” “With a Little Luck,” “Hope for the Future” and “Junk” are on Disc 4, Side 8.

The full track list covers his albums “McCartney,” “RAM,” “Band on the Run,” “Wings at the Speed of Sound,” “Venus and Mars,” “Red Rose Speedway,” “Pipes of Peace,” “Kisses on the Bottom,” “McCartney II,” “Back to the Egg,” “Flaming Pie,” “Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard,” “Wild Life,” “Memory Almost Full,” “Off the Ground,” “London Town,” “Give My Regards to Broad Street, and his most recent “NEW,” plus the album Electric Arguments done under The Fireman. Also included are several non-album singles.

The album was personally put together by Paul McCartney and many tracks were remastered for the new album, the label said. The standard edition includes 12 Top 10 U.S. singles and 10 UK Top 10s. The deluxe has 18 Top 10 singles from the U.S. and UK and 9 U.S. No. 1's. His last compilation was Wingspan in 2001.

‘Electra Woman’ movie more adult than ‘70s Saturday morning kids’ show

Steven Rose, Jr.

Sacramento Sci-Fi Examiner

April 2, 2016 12:05 AM MST

Play

'Electra Woman and Dyna Girl' movie trailer

Legendary

It’s no doubt that super heroes are the biggest thing in movies and TV today, especially those from major comic book companies such as Marvel and DC. Only last week saw the big screen premiere of “Batman Vs. Superman”. But also really big are remakes and movie adaptations of TV shows from decades back. One of the most recent has been last year’s “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” movie. But the trend is also film adaptations of children’s television shows such as “The Peanuts Movie”. One movie that combines the trends of super hero nostalgia and children’s viewing is “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl”, set to release on digital platforms June 7th. It’s based on the 1970s live-action Saturday morning TV series of the same name. However, Generation X super hero fans shouldn't get their hopes up too high. According to the trailer which released Tuesday on YouTube, this new movie adaptation will be a much more comical and more adult version than the original series.

The story line doesn’t seem bad for the movie, since it’s kind of meta cinematic, but the characterization could be better especially in the distinction between the title characters played by YouTube stars Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart. The two super-heroes, basically a female version of Batman and Robin, start off fighting crime in an Ohio town. When they get a call from a Hollywood agent for an offer, they decide to move to Los Angeles hoping to find fame for their crime-fighting roles. The agent gives them up-to-date, darker toned, leather costumes replacing their techno colored spandex ones that are reminiscent of the costumes in the original show. This makes the movie a “then vs. now” theme. The two crime fighters are not only up against big city criminals including a super villain, but they are also in competition “with other vigilantes” and between themselves. Whereas the TV series was campy in a similar manner to the ‘60s Batman TV show, the movie is a straightforward spoof.

Unlike in the original series, the female dynamic duo seem to be indistinct from each other. Electra Woman comes across as a more immature, adolescent character compared to the TV show, making her not much more adult-like than her teen sidekick Dyna Girl. This subtracts from her mentor quality. She talks in a relatively high-pitched voice and a much too humorous and playful tone. To add to this adolescent demeanor, she cusses in response to delightful situations. For example, when she and Dyna Girl receive the offer from the agent, she responds by saying “Holy sh*t!” That’s something you would expect Dyna Girl to say in her Robin-like role.

“Electra Woman and Dyna Girl” is directed by Chris Marrs Pilero and executive produced by original TV series’ producer Marty Krofft (who with his brother, Sid, produced many other live-action kids shows in the ‘70s) and Ken Treusch. It’s distributed by Legendary Digital.

Metallica to celebrate Record Store Day with in-store performance at Rasputin’s

Louis Raphael

SF Music Examiner

March 31, 2016 3:19 PM MST

Metallica is playing Record Store Day at Rasputin's in Berkeley, Calif.

Photo used with permission from BB Gun Press

Metallica will perform live at Berkeley’s legendary record store Rasputin Music on Saturday, April 16 in celebration of “Record Store Day 2016.” As this year's ambassadors, the band is inviting fans to join them to celebrate the passion for music that lives on in local record stores around the world.

"Getting loud, noisy and sweaty at Rasputin's on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley transports Metallica right back to the core of its Bay Area beginnings," said Metallica's Lars Ulrich. "We can't wait to celebrate Record Store Day while shaking up the East Bay old-school style."

Rasputin Music customers and Met Club members are invited to be in the audience by entering to win tickets to this very intimate performance.

There are two ways To win:

1. Visit Rasputin Music in Berkeley between now and April 10 to fill out a ballot for your chance to win only one ticket to the special performance.

2. Met Club members can click here to win one ticket to the performance.

Metallica is no stranger to Record Store Day, a special day in support of independent record stores and record store culture worldwide, now in its ninth year. Metallica's support through out the years has been more than noteworthy with in-store appearances, like in Mountain View in 2008, when the band met their fans for hours to kick off the very first event. In fact, members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo made big news just last year when the band's cassette-issued demos collection, No Life Til Leather, ended up as Record Store Day 2015's highest seller.

This year the band's official release will fit into a wider theme, highlighting the relationship between U.S. record stores and their French counterparts, between Record Store Day and Disquaire Day, between music-loving humans in the U.S. and France, following the tragic events in Paris in November 2015. Metallica will release “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, Metallica! - Live at Le Bataclan. Paris, France - June 11, 2003,” a CD featuring a live recording from the band with independent record stores donating proceeds to benefit Fondation de France's Give For France charity.

‘Game Of Thrones’ Actress Jessica Henwick Joins ‘Iron Fist’

What to watch on Saturday, April 2...

10pm, Esquire
Beowulf
Rheda is determined to debunk Beowulf’s accusations, even as a cloud of suspicion gathers around her brother. Luckily for her, PolitiFact has rated his claims “Tunic on Fire.”

11:30pm, NBC
Saturday Night Live
Peter Dinklage hosts, so get ready to find out what it might be like if Tyrion Lannister became a political advisor to Larry-David-style Bernie Sanders. Musical guest Gwen Stefani realizes it’s a terrible time to bring this up, but she honestly can’t find her dragons.

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Benedict Cumberbatch films on-location scenes for the new Marvel Pictures film Dr. Strange in the West Village New York City, on April 2, 2016.

Source: FameFlynet Pictures

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What to watch on Sunday, April 3...

PREVIOUSLY: Friday, April 1 | Saturday, April 2

8pm, CBS
The 51st Annual Academy of Country Music Awards
Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley host the hootenanny in Las Vegas. Slated performers include Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, and many more. Dolly & Katy Duet.

SEASON 5 PREMIERE, 8pm, PBS
Call the Midwife
Set in 1961, the fifth season opens with a couple disagreeing over the future of their child, who was born without limbs. Meanwhile, Delia has recuperated from her accident, but her mother wants her to move back home to Wales.

8pm, ABC
Once Upon a Time
Belle and Zelena get zapped into the underworld, where the former receives devastating news while the latter butts heads with Regina. Meanwhile in “Our Decay,” Mary Margaret and David try to get a message to Neal, and flashbacks reveal Hades’ plan to ally with Zelena while visiting Oz.

8pm, Fox
The Simpsons
Smithers is stung by Mr. Burns’ absence of affection in “The Burns Cage,” so Homer sets out to find him a boyfriend. Elsewhere, Bart schemes to land Milhouse the lead role in the school’s production of Casablanca, but Milhouse’s Rick doesn’t quite match the caliber of Lisa’s Ilsa.

NEW TIME / SPECIAL TIME, 8:30pm & 9pm, Fox
Bob’s Burgers
The Belchers mosey back into a regular primetime slot at 8:30pm, as “House of 1000 Bounces” finds the kids saving Regular Sized Rudy’s birthday party from a potential bounce house catastrophe, and finds Bob confronting a longtime fear. Then in a bonus episode at 9pm, Gene leads the young’uns on a quest to find a mythical creature in “Stand by Gene.”

SEASON 6 FINALE, 9pm, AMC
The Walking Dead
Rick and the Rickrollers must quit their (relatively) friendly confines in order to rescue one of their own in “Last Day on Earth.” Is it too optimistic to interpret that title as meaning next season will be set in outer space? Try and tell me you wouldn’t watch The Moonwalking Dead.

SEASON 6 FINALE, 9pm, Showtime
Shameless
You’re cordially invited to the wedding of Fiona Gallagher and Sean Pierce in “Familia Supra Gallegorious Omnia!” Well, assuming you aren’t Frank Gallagher. Although if you are, I imagine you’ll show up anyway, all high and dropping bombshells about the groom and whatnot.

SEASON 8 PREMIERE, 9pm, TLC
Who Do You Think You Are?
Aisha Tyler traces the long-lost story of her great-great-grandfather, a politician who tried to keep an illegitimate son under wraps.

9pm, NBC
The Carmichael Show
A Muslim couple moves in next door in “New Neighbors,” and Jerrod’s parents’ reaction prompts a dispute between him and Maxine.

9pm, PBS
Grantchester
After a professor is killed by a suspicious stumble, a government agent instructs Geordie to steer clear of the case. On the personal front, Sidney is warned off an old flame but quickly rebounds.

9pm, ABC
The Family
Nina and Clements concoct a cunning plan to capture Doug the Pock-Marked Man, but putative bait Adam blows it by falling ill. In the hospital, his doctor makes a shocking discovery and shares it with Claire. Elsewhere in “Nowhere Man,” flashbacks trace Doug’s various near-misses with the Warrens and the police on the night Adam disappeared.

9pm, HBO
Vinyl
A financially strapped Richie hits Galasso up for a loan in “E.A.B.,” while Lester teaches Kip a thing or two about the blues and Andrea makes a personnel move at American Century.

9:30pm, Fox
The Last Man on Earth
Carol’s desire to repopulate pops back up in “Fish in the Dish.” Meanwhile, Todd can no longer keep his many balls in the air.

9:30pm, NBC
Crowded
“Nothing As It Seems” sends the family to the cinema to celebrate Bob and Alice’s anniversary. Along the way, Mike and Martina find a pregnancy test that suggests said family might soon grow bigger.

10pm, ABC
Quantico
A trainee exercise at Quantico touches a sore spot for Shelby in “Clue.” No one had ever suspected that she lost six cousins in a tragic trust-fall accident. In the future, Alex receives unexpected help from Hannah as she tries to thwart more terrorist mischief.

10pm, PBS
Mr. Selfridge
Cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden stirs things up at Selfridge’s, most especially for Kitty. Also keeping busy this week is Harry, who joins Jimmy in a risky venture, woos one of the Dolly twins, and demotes a key store employee.

10pm, Showtime
Billions
A lousy trade whacks Axe in “Magical Thinking,” though he probably should’ve known better than to short Magic Beans Ltd. Things are looking sunnier for Chuck, who comes upon evidence that could salvage the case.

10pm, NBC
Hollywood Game Night
Natalie Morales, Julia Stiles, Bellamy Young, Meredith Viera, Raven-Symone, and Hannah Davis are the celebrity players.

10pm, HBO
Girls
Jessa attends Adam’s play but hopes to avoid Hannah, who’s dealing with her own social stresses thanks to Fran. Elsewhere in “Hello Kitty,” Marnie drops some news on Ray, and Elijah’s eyes are opened at a fancy party thrown by Dill.

10:30pm, HBO
Togetherness
New pressures at the school have Michelle in crisis mode, so she gathers her crew for a midnight beach outing in “The Sand Situation.” There, Brett lands in an awkward position while Tina’s behavior raises concerns for Alex.

11:30pm, Cartoon Network
Robot Chicken
An accident costs a superhero his senses, Hogwarts eschews birth control education, Solid Snake proves less than stealthy in the bathroom, and the Micronauts unveil a new public transit system in “Joel Hurwitz Returns.”

Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for its animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, due out later this year.

Hello Dolly! Ms Parton is sheerly stunning in a lacy cream hued gown at the Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas

By Sarah Sotoodeh For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:29 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 00:49 EST, 4 April 2016

Dolly Parton wowed in a cream hued lacy gown for the Academy Of Country Music Awards red carpet on Sunday in Las Vegas.

The 70-year-old shined in the fitted long-sleeved embellished dress, which cinched at her waist before cascading down to the ground.

The singer, who is set to perform with Katy Perry on stage inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, added bright pink lipstick and nails to round out her look.

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Looking good: Dolly Parton wowed in a cream hued lacy floor-length gown for the Academy Of Country Music Awards red carpet on Sunday

The country star's shiny floor-length frock featured a low-cut neckline, showing a hint of her ample cleavage, with a lacy overlay.

Dolly's gown included gold embellishments that increased in number toward the hemline.

The artist added several large diamond rings as well as dangling earrings for a pop of sparkle.

She added color by opting for shiny pink lipstick and matching nail polish.

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Stylish look: The 70-year-old shined in the fitted long-sleeved embellished dress, which cinched at her waist before cascading down to the ground

Dolly balanced the lip color with smokey eye makeup, kohl lined lids and rosy hued blush on her cheeks.

The Jolene singer wore her platinum locks loose with a slight curl.

The Grammy winner posed with her guest, who looked sweet in a pink dress lace detailing.

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Sharing a moment: The Grammy winner posed with her guest, who looked sweet in a pink dress with a lace detail on top

Howdy y'all! Katy Perry takes country girl to another level in bubblegum pink cowboy boots and metallic blue jacket

By Brittany Valadez For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:19 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 04:38 EST, 4 April 2016

She is set to perform with the legendary Dolly Parton at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday.

And Katy Perry paid homage to the singer in an eclectic, country ensemble in Las Vegas.

The 31-year-old star was a cotton candy dream in a pink and baby blue ensemble.

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Bright look: She was set to perform with the legendary Dolly Parton at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday. And Katy Perr, 31, paid homage to the singer in an eclectic, country ensemble in Las Vegas

The Fireworks singer layered a cropped top sweater under a metallic, leather-like coat.

She added an identical baby blue skirt, complete with a fringe bottom.

Katy finished with a pair of fishnet stockings, tucked into bubblegum pink cowboy boots and a matching print belt.

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Eclectic style: The brunette beauty was a cotton candy dream in a pink and baby blue ensemble

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Go-to look: For make-up, the girlfriend of Orlando Bloom dazzled in her signature cat eye, featuring thick, top liner and a white inner rim

Katy adorned her ears with oversize, fuschia earrings, in the shape of a star.

For make-up, the girlfriend of Orlando Bloom dazzled in her signature cat eye, featuring thick, top liner and a white inner rim.

She finished with a lightly flushed cheek and a bold lip.

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Taking it back: For hair, Katy took it back to '60s, with a mod, beehive haircut

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Just the two of them: The pop star was joined by her evening's stylist, pal Jeremy Scott

For hair, Katy took it back to '60s, with a mod, beehive haircut.

The pop star was joined by her evening's stylist, pal Jeremy Scott.

With the look of his ensemble, it's no doubt that the singer's red carpet attire was taken from the mind of the designer.

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The popular pair: Katy sat by her duet partner of the night, Dolly Parton, 70

What a pair! Dolly Parton stuns in her Coat Of Many Colours as she duets with Katy Perry at Academy Of Country Music Awards... as Chris Stapleton wins top prizes

• Chris Stapleton won Vocalist Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year
• Dolly Parton and Katy Perry performed hits including Jolene and Coat of Many Colors
• Miranda Lambert took to the stage with ZZ Top star Billy Gibbons and Keith Urban
• The late Joey Feek, of vocal duo Joey + Rory, honored with a standing ovation

By Mike Larkin For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:23 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 11:31 EST, 4 April 2016

Her favourite song is Coat Of Many Colours.

And Dolly Parton actually wore one as she performed a once in a lifetime duet with pop star Katy Perry at the Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The pair were the star attractions on a night bluegrass sensation Chris Stapleton walked away with a prestigious triple crown of the most prestigious prizes on offer.

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Who needs California Gurls? Dolly Parton left Katy Perry in the shade as they duetted at the Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday

In a jokey introduction in which she told the crowd they had 'finally got me in a pair of boots,' and admitted she is 'but one tiny sequin in a Dolly Parton gown,' Katy pointed out they both came from preacher families and started singing in church.

And, making fun of their famously voluptuous physiques, the Roar star said: 'We're known for some of the biggest... songs in our fields.'

Dolly, who was accepting a gong for her biographical film Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors, praised the film's cast, including adorable Alyvia Alyn Lind, the eight-year-old star who played a child version of the I Will Always Love You singer.

She added: 'I hope you like my coat I had to do something to overcome the leggy women I'm working with here.'

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Working girls: The duo sang Coat Of Many Colours and Jolene before finishing with 9 to 5

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Dolly's Coat Of Many Colours: She joked she had to wear the jacket as she was surrounded by leggy beauties

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Big hits: Katy quipped they are known for having some of the biggest songs in showbusiness

The dynamic duo then rattled their way through a medley of the country legend's greatest songs, starting with Coat Of Many Colours before they belted out Jolene.

They finished in style with a version of 9 To 5, the crossover hit that was the theme tune to the movie smash of the same name.

And while many would have expected Katy, 31, to outshine the veteran who is 39 years her senior, it was in fact Dolly whose voice held up best in the live arena, underlining he status as one of the best in the business.

Katy meanwhile at one point pulled out her in-ear monitor, suggesting audio problems may have been a reason for her shaky performance.

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She kissed a girl: And Dolly seemed to like it as Katy also handed over a prestigious paperweight

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Hero worship: The popstrel admitted that she is 'but one tiny sequin in a Dolly Parton gown'

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Good golly Miss Dolly: The 70-year-old veteran was looking almost as good as ever

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Who needs an Oscar: Dolly was given a special prize for her biographical movie

The ACM Awards is the show that is a home away from home for Blake Shelton.

And while he was not filling his usual host role, The Voice judge kicked off the event in fine style when he stole the mic from his replacement Dierks Bentley to duet the opening number with Luke Bryan.

He then belted out his own hit Came Here To Forget, before introducing Dirks on stage.

As he wrapped his arms around the presenters he joked, 'Good luck tonight boys. He's all yours, what a dumba**.'

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The Voice of country: Blake Shelton kicks off Academy Of Country Music Awards with a bang on Sunday

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Luke who it is: He was duetting with the show's host and Entertainer Of The Year nominee Luke Bryan

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Passing the torch: After jokingly stealing his microphone he ushered new host Dierks Bentley onto the stage

Chris Stapleton was hoping to add a to his already packed trophy cabinet after dominating his genre at the Grammys and the Country Music Association Awards.

He got off to the perfect start when he won the Song Of The Year prize for Nobody To Blame and the Album Of The Year prize on Sunday.

The bluegrass star was the show's leading nominee after being put forward in seven categories, and the bearded beefcake was quick to joke about being handed the prize by NFL star Von Miller.

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Playing ball: NFL star Von Miller proclaimed his love of country as he presented the Song Of The Year gong

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Bluegrass kicking on: Top nominee Chris Stapleton added a hatful of prizes to his burgeoning trophy cabinet

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In need of a new trophy cabinet: He ended up walking away with a triple crown of prestigious paperweights, and won the New Male Vocalist gong for good measure

He said: 'You've got to be kidding me. I thought we were gonna get girl-crushed on this one.'

And he was even more overwhelmed when one of his heroes announced he had netted the coveted Album Of The Year gong. Chris said: 'Unbelievable - Garth Brooks just gave me an award.'

When he won the Vocalist Of The Year prize his sense of humour again came to the fore, as he said: 'I have to thank my wife... She makes me sound better and look better than I would otherwise.'

The singer-songwriter's big win at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas comes after he collected two Grammys in February and three CMAs in November, where he won plaudits for a show-stopping performance alongside Justin Timberlake.

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Chain-mailing it in: Carrie Underwood gave a visually arresting performance

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Hot in heavy metal: She showcased her knockout figure as she pranced around on stage

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She bangs: Even though her song was Church Bells she indulged in some dramatic drumming

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She moves: The mother-of-one's fitness regimen is certainly bearing rich dividends

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What a pro: The leggy lovely was still smiling when she came off the stage afterwards

However he was shockingly snubbed for Entertainer Of The Year, where reigning champ Luke Bryan battled Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert.

However it was Jason who finally broke his duck, and he told the audience: 'I was starting to think this one just wasn't on the cards for me,' before he thanked his wife and children.

Blake Shelton's ex-wife Miranda, who brought along her new beau Anderson East to the show, was delighted to win the Female Vocalist Award, beating off strong competition from Carrie Underwood.

She said: 'I love y'all. I just want to say I love Carrie - she killed it. She is literally the perfect singer.'

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Battle of the blondes: But Carrie's performance was not enough to stop rival Miranda Lambert winning Female Vocalist Of The Year

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Touche: And she celebrated by singing ZZ Top hit Tush with the band's Billy Gibbons playing guitar

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Urban flavour: She also grooved on stage with guest guitarist Keith

Miranda also heaped praise on fellow nominees Kelsea Ballerini, Jana Kramer and Kacey Musgraves, saying she felt excited about the future for women in country.

Other winners included Eric Church, who netted Video Of The Year and Thomas Rhett, who scooped the paperweight for Single Of The Year for Die A Happy Man.

Meanwhile Little Big Town vocalist Kimberly Schlapman garnered guffaws as they picked up the Vocal Group Of The Year gong when she said: 'Thank you Chris Stapleton for not being in vocal group.'

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Everyone's a winner: New Female Vocalist winner Kelsea Ballerini performed while viewers marvelled at her perfect pins

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Where's Joe and Kevin: She was joined on the stage by six-string widdler and former pop star Nick Jonas

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Ovation: Martina McBride and Darius Rucker asked the crowd to applaud the singer Joey Feek, who died after a fight with cancer

And the late Joey Feek, of vocal duo Joey + Rory, was honored with a standing ovation.

Martina McBride and Darius Rucker asked the crowd to applaud the singer, which let to the standing ovation, and round of applause. And the late Joey Feek, of vocal duo Joey + Rory, was honored with a standing ovation and round of applause.

Last month the 40-year-old died after a long battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband Rory and their young daughter Indiana.

Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw also hit the stage.

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The Little Big Town that could: The popular quartet picked up the Vocal Group Of The Year gong

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Funny crack: Kimberly Schlapman garnered guffaws when she thanked Chris Stapleton for not being in their catagory

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Finally: Jason Aldean was delighted to land the coveted Entertainer Of The Year award at last

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Brits abroad: Tom Hiddleston was perhaps a bizarre addition to the evening, given his very British roots among a host of country stars

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Handing things over: Tom presented Jason Aldean with the coveted Entertainer Of The Year award

Meanwhile Miranda Lambert caused a stir when she performed ZZ Top's Tush with the band's guitarist Billy Gibbons and Keith Urban.

Other notable turns included a raucous performance by Little Big Town and Trombone Shorty, while Joe Jonas was a guest guitarist when Kelsea Ballerini performed.

Katy said after rehearsals on Saturday that she and Dolly have lot in common, like they both grew up singing gospel music.

'I don't come out for anyone, but when Dolly calls, probably on her hot pink phone, I pick up,' Perry said. 'I have always wanted this to happen, I've wanted it for years, so I guess I dreamed a big dream and now it's being realized.'

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Plenty of curve appeal: Busty Dolly Parton would later perform with voluptuous Katy Perry

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She looks Dead Calm: Nicole Kidman looked relaxed as she sat with country star husband Keith Urban

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Who needs Blake? His ex-wife Miranda Lambert was there with her new beau Anderson East

Cam, who also performed, was the second most nominated act with six thanks to her Grammy-nominated hit Burning House, but left empty-handed.

Most of the time when Cam sings 'Burning House,' she encourages fans to sing along by the end of the song. But she said Saturday after her rehearsal she might approach the ACM audience a little different.

'I feel like I am going to be too nervous to look at celebrity people in the eye and say, 'Sing along!'' Cam said. 'I am mostly going to keep it in my corner this time, and if they want to, they can.'

Church is also nominated for six awards and will perform. His surprise album, Mr. Misunderstood, was nominated for album of the year but lost out to new star Chris Stapleton.

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From the band of brothers: Nick Jonas struck out on his own by attending the event

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Yeehaw: Tim McGraw looked excited to be posing up backstage with glamorous Faith Hill

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Twenty gallons of hats: Tim also posed up with fellow cowboy hat wearer Kenny Chesney

Academy Of Country Music Awards - Winners

Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean

Male Vocalist of the Year Chris Stapleton

Female Vocalist of the Year Miranda Lambert

Vocal Duo of the Year Florida Georgia Line

Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town

New Male Vocalist of the Year Chris Stapleton

New Female Vocalist of the Year Kelsea Ballerini

New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year Old Dominion

Album of the Year Traveller - Chris Stapleton

Song of the Year Nobody To Blame - Chris Stapleton

Single Record of the Year Die A Happy Man - Thomas Rhett

Video of the Year Mr. Misunderstood - Eric Church

'I had the most amazing person to come home to': Taylor Swift gushes over Calvin Harris as she wins FOUR gongs for most at 2016 iHeartRadio Music Awards

By Justin Enriquez For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:45 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 02:54 EST, 4 April 2016

She may have been honoured with four awards including the biggest of the night.

But Taylor Swift deflected a bit of the spotlight to the man in her life.

The 26-year-old hitmaker gushed about her boyfriend Calvin Harris as she accepted the Best Tour award at the iHeart Music Awards on Sunday night.

She made a cute dedication to the handsome 32-year-old DJ - and even referred to him by his real name - at the star-studded event, which honours the best in music, was held at the fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California.

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Big winner: Taylor Swift was a big winner at the 2016 iHeart Radio Awards in Inglewood, California on Sunday night

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Loving embrace: The 26-year-old singer made sure to thank her boyfriend Calvin Harris in a cute moment during one of her acceptance speeches

It seems like jumpsuits were a hit on the iHeartRadio Music Awards red carpet. Selena Gomez donned an orange cutout version while Demi Lovato chose a monochrome 80's inspired number.

But Taylor Swift oozed sex appeal when she arrived in a catsuit pulled from Saint Laurent's Fall 2016 collection. The form fitting one-piece had a halter neckline and was covered in sequins. It was also cinched at the waist with an oversize patent leather belt.

If you want to give your evening wear a boost, then follow Taylor's lead and rock a sparkly jumpsuit with some killer heels. Her exclusive look is not available in stores so get something similar below.

TFNC and French Connection both have strapless options while Boohoo has a plunge neck version that's sure to make your next special occasion one you won't soon forget.

Taylor said: 'For the first time I had the most amazing person to come home to when the spotlight went out and when the crowds were all gone. So I want to thank my boyfriend Adam for that and I love you guys so much.'

Calvin looked flattered as he clapped along to support his ladylove on her new trophy presented by Justin Timberlake.

The Scottish DJ seemed to be her good luck charm as she also took home the biggest award of the night: Album Of The Year for 1989.

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Bringing out the big guns: Justin Timberlake was enlisted to present the coveted award

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Grateful: Taylor gave Justin a big hug when accepting the prize

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Paying his respects: The 35-year-old singer bowed toward Taylor as she thanked him during her speech as she said: 'I want to thank Justin Timberlake for the example he set for all of us in this room'

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Touching: During her acceptance she said: 'For the first time I had the most amazing person to come home to when the spotlight went out and when the crowds were all gone. So I want to thank my boyfriend Adam for that and I love you guys so much'

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Dynamic duo: Justin and Taylor were happy to pose together after the presentation

It was a highly-competitive category as she was up against Adele for 25, The Weeknd for Beauty Behind the Madness, Sam Smith for In the Lonely Hour, and Ed Sheeran for X.

The Blank Space hitmaker was presented with the award by a familiar face as Selena Gomez made the announcement by calling the blonde beauty: 'My Girl T-Swizzy Taylor Swift.'

Taylor gave her good friend a big hug while accepting the gong and went on to thank her fans for liking and listening to her songs on the radio as she insisted this will be her last award show for a while.

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Support system:Her hunky 32-year-old boyfriend gave her a big hug when she took home the biggest award of the night: Album Of The Year

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Showing him her love: Taylor held her man close to her as her name was called out

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Sensual: Calvin pulled Taylor into his chest and nuzzled into her neck as they had a moment together

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This is her moment: Taylor beamed from ear to ear as she was congratulated by her man

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'My Girl T-Swizzy Taylor Swift': Her BFF Selena Gomez was the one who presented the biggest award of the night

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Hugging it out: Taylor and the 23-year-old singer were happy to greet each other on stage

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Stepping out of the limelight? She said this will be her last award show for a while

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Encouraging: She told parents that they should make sure they tell their kids that they are special

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Gal pals: The duo shared a big hug backstage

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Lots of love: She gave boyfriend Calvin a big hug before accepting an award earlier in the night

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Just the two of us: They looked very happy while walking through the awards gala together

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Power couple: It appeared to be a great night for the singer who had her man by her side

She even sent a special message to all the parents watching the award show as she said: 'I know my mom, dad and brother are watching and my most vivid memory of growing up is my mom and dad telling me that I was different and unique and special.

'And I could do whatever I wanted in my life. So parents tell your kids every day that they are special, they are unique, they could do whatever they want with their lives. Thank you for having me.'

Earlier in the night, she was pitted against her BFF Selena in the Female Artist Of The Year award and even credited her gal pals like the fellow 23-year-old singer for her move into pop music.

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Big winner: Taylor was also awarded with the first award of the night

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Old friends: Country crooner presented the 26-year-old hitmaker with the Best Female Artist Of The Year Award

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Big move: She talked about her decision to move to pop music as she said: 'The decision to make a pop album was not made in a conference room or by a record label. Those decisions were made in my kitchen with my girlfriends and the women in my life'

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No hard feelings: She was congratulated by her BFF Selena Gomez who was also up for the award

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Hugging it out: Selena looked genuinely happy for her friend

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Reunited: Brad looked really happy to see Taylor on-stage

She said: 'The decision to make a pop album was not made in a conference room or by a record label. Those decisions were made in my kitchen with my girlfriends and the women in my life.'

They faced stiff competition as along with Swift and Gomez, Adele, Carrie Underwood and Meghan Trainor also received nods.

Justin Bieber was the first performance of the night as he did an acoustic solo version of hit Love Yourself.

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Crooning: Justin Bieber was the first musical performance as he opened with an emotional acoustic performance of new track Love Yourself

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Moving and grooving: The 22-year-old Canadian crooner later ditched his guitar to perform Company

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Showing his style: He sported a red jacket, grey fleech shorts over jeans and black high-top trainers

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Crowd goes wild: He and his dancers later stepped into the audience to dance and conclude the number

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New style: Bieber showed off his new dreadlocks during the performance

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Friendly to fans: His followers went crazy as he joined them off the stage

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Looking out for number one: Later on in the night he accepted the award for Best Dance Song for Where Are U Now along with Diplo

The 22-year-old Canadian crooner then ditches the guitar to go into new single Company as he is joined by several male dancers.

For the performance he sported a baggy red coaches jacket with red fleece shorts over jeans and black leather trainers.

His Long blonde locks were done in what looked like dreadlocks as he also sported several gold chains around his neck.

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Big winner: Selena Gomez won the award for Best Triple Threat

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Gratitude: The 23-year-old singer thanked her fans as she said: 'You're the reason I do what I do. Thank you so much'

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Just us: Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy presented her with the gong

Toward the end of his performance, Justin and his dancers walked through the crowd as they moved and grooved in a circle and a fan was even lucky enough to dance on the Baby hitmaker.

It was a big night for Bieber as he is up for the Best Male Artist award competing against Ed Sheeran, Luke Bryan, Sam Smith and The Weeknd.

Justin's ex Selena also tasted gold as she took home the Biggest Triple Threat award.

She credited her fans for the accomplishment as she said: 'You're the reason I do what I do. Thank you so much.'

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He's taking home gold too: Calvin took home the Dance Artist Of The Year award

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Where's the love? Calvin did not thank his girlfriend Taylor

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Shout-out: He did give props to fellow EDM stars Skrillex and Diplo

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Blonde ambition: Julianne Hough presented the award to Calvin

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Wonder in white: The Dancing With The Stars showed off her legs in a mini dress

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Looking good: The 27-year-old pro dancer sported a white number

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Who knew they were friends? She posed for a picture with Karrueche Tran

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Selfie time: They stopped for a self-taken snapshot together

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It's a hit: Adele took home Song Of The Year as she was not able to be in attendance and instead was surprised with the trophy during her stop in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday

Calvin also came away a big winner as he took home with the Dance Artist Of The Year award by Julianne Hough.

He did not thank his girlfriend Taylor but did give a special shout-out to fellow EDM artist Diplo and Skrillex

Jason Derulo hosted the show as he performed an impressive dance medley of some of the biggest songs of the past year before hitting the stage.

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Man of the hour: Jason Derulo was hot of the gala event

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Man with the plan: The 26-year-old hitmaker sported a checked flannel, black trousers and high-top designer shoes

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Showing his talents: He danced to some of the biggest hits of the year

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Talented: Demi Lovato performed her hit Stone Cold

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Dynamic duo: She was joined by Brad Paisley

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Taking the plunge: Demi shared a few Snapchats leading up to the performance

Song Of The Year included much of the same names: Blank Space by Swift, Can't Feel My Face by The Weeknd, Hello by Adele, Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon and Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.

Ultimately it was Adele who took home the big win as she was not able to be in attendance and instead was surprised with the trophy during her stop in Copenhagen, Denmark on Sunday.

Bieber again got recognized in the Dance Song Of The Year category as he won for Where Are U Now? which he collaborated with Skrillex and Diplo for.

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Happy: Pharrell Williams was a presented at the gala

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Legends: Bono and The Edge of U2 accepted the Innovator Award

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Sending a message: They stressed that they are a traditional rock band using traditional instruments and managed to innovate

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Credit where credit is do: Pharrell later posed with the rock legends and pointed to them in a snap

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Three's a crowd: They were also joined by Taylor

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Hanging out: Taylor looked happy to be flanked by the legendary U2 rockers

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VIP: Pharrell posed with Selena and songwriter Diane Warren backstage

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Daps: Pharrell and Justin were spotted saying hello to each other

Also in that category were Hey Mama by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack, Lean On with Major Lazer & DJ Snake featuring MØ, Waves by Mr. Probz, You Know You Like It, by DJ Snake & AlunaGeorge.

R&B Artist Of The Year included Beyoncé, Chris Brown, The Weeknd, Trey Songz and Usher.

Chris, 26, took home the prize as he said: 'I tend not to have a filter and tend to go off on people but my music stays the same: positivity.'

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Showing some skin: Iggy Azalea closed out the night with the debut performance of new song Team

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Wow factor: She showed off her taut tummy in the denim bra and trousers combination

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Stunenrs: Iggy and Demi posed for a snap backstage

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Stylish: Zendaya was a presenter at the star-studded event

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Gorgeous: She was joined by Kat Graham

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Trap king: Fetty Wap rode on an ATV and had motorbikes featured during his performance just months after his motorcycle accident

The country artists of the year were Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Sam Hun and Thomas Rhett.

Iggy Azalea closed out the night with a performance of her new single Team in a sexy outfit including denim bra and trousers.

This was the third staight year, the iHeartRadio Music Awards will celebrated the music that was heard throughout the year across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio.

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Feeling good: Chris Brown took home the R&B Artist Of The Year award as he said: 'I tend not to have a filter and tend to go off on people but my music stays the same: positivity'

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Crushing it: Chris performed a medley of tracks which concluded with an impresive dance session

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Ringmaster: Meghan Trainor was one of the featured performers

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What a debut: She performed her hit No for the first time

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Big win: Singer Nicky Jam took home the award for Latin Song Of The Year for El Perdón with Enrique Iglesias

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Flying solo: Zayn Malik performed at the event after splitting from One Direction

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On his own: The 23-year-old singer performed new track Pillowtalk

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What a guest: Joe Jonas performed with his band DNCE featuring a surprise appearance by Nile Rodgers

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Moving and grooving: They performed hit Cake By The Ocean

Stone Cold fox! Demi Lovato shows off her toned legs as she performs on stage at the iHeartRadio Music Awards

By Brittany Valadez For Dailymail.com

Published: 22:44 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 02:52 EST, 4 April 2016

She delivered a heartfelt rendition of her latest single, Stone Cold.

And Demi Lovato was joined by Brad Paisley on stage at the iHeartRadio Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.

The country crooner gave over his instrumental talents to the song, providing backup on his guitar.

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Belting it out: Demi Lovato gave a heartfelt rendition of her new single, Stone Cold, in Inglewood, CA

The 23-year-old singer was glamorously styled in a structured dress coat with gold buttons.

She accessorized simply with a gold necklace, rings and stud earrings.

Demi completed her look with strappy, cage-like heels complete with a snake-like design across the shoe.

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Chic: The 23-year-old singer was glamorously styled in a structured dress coat with gold buttons

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Killer feet: Demi wore strappy, cage-like heels complete with a snake-like design across the shoe

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Perfect add-ons: She accessorized simply with a gold necklace, rings and stud earrings

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Powerful duo: Country singer Brad Paisley, 43, joined the singer on stage during her performance

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Helping out: The crooner gave over his instrumental talents to the song, providing backup on his guitar

The duo gave a killer performance, proving their choice to work together was the right one.

To perform, Brad missed out on the American Country Music Awards, which was taking place in Las Vegas at the same time on Sunday.

But the Remind Me singer was not upset, as he tweeted a selfie with Demi later in the evening.

'So honored to play for you @ddlovato !!! Absolutely amazing singer. And wonderful person,' he wrote.

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Very happy! The Remind Me singer was not upset, as he tweeted a selfie with Demi later in the evening

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Classic colours: On the red carpet, the Give Your Heart a Break singer rocked a black-and-white suit

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Selfie: The singer took to Snapchat to share her view from the night, including post a picture of her stunning make-up look prior to the show

Demi enjoyed her fare share of fun that evening.

The singer took to Snapchat to share her view from the night, including post a picture of her stunning make-up look prior to the show.

Later in the evening, she shared a photo with Meghan Trainor, 22.

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It girls: Later in the evening, she shared a photo with Meghan Trainor, 22

What to watch on Monday, April 4...

SERIES FINALE, 12:01am Pacific, Hulu
11/22/63
Jake races to Dealey Plaza to save Kennedy in “The Day in Question,” but the past isn’t going to take his meddling lying down. Whether he succeeds or fails, he may end up paying a hefty price.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE, 9pm, HBO
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
This profile of provocative photographer Robert Mapplethorpe examines some of his most notable work, including never-before-seen pieces and archival material. The film also goes behind the scenes of new retrospectives at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

9pm, Syfy
The Magicians
“Thirty-Nine Graves” finds the students hungover, befuddled, and regretful. But there’s no time for a little hair of the dog, as Penny reminds everyone that their lives depend on reaching the Neitherlands ASAP.

10pm, ABC
Castle
While investigating the murder of an armored-car driver, Beckett and Castle come upon a clue to one of Esposito’s old cases in “Heartbreaker.” As the follow up on that matter, they discover their colleague may have been less than entirely forthcoming about his involvement with the perpetrator.

10pm, NBC
Blindspot
In “Any Wounded Thief,” the team races to foil a terrorist plot after chemical weapons are stolen from an armored truck. Yeesh, rough night to be driving an armored vehicle on a TV procedural. In less potentially lethal developments, Jane grows closer to Oscar, even as a hazy memory of Weller confounds her.

10pm, PBS
Independent Lens
Welcome to Leith chronicles the response of a small town in North Dakota after an infamous white supremacist attempts to seize control through increasingly dangerous means.

10pm, AMC
Better Call Saul
As Mike sets out to balance the scales with a formidable foe in “Fifi,” Jimmy sees a sudden opportunity to gain a competitive advantage.

SERIES PREMIERE, 10:30pm Eastern/8:30pm Mountain, BYUtv
Random Acts
A band of merry pranksters perk up people’s days via various good deeds in this sunnier spin on the hidden-camera show.

11pm, Syfy
Bitten
Now that she’s donned the Alpha’s hat (I assume there’s a hat), Elena vows to take down the Albino. If you suspect that’s easier vowed than done, this may not be your first TV rodeo. Elsewhere in “Tili Tili Bom,” Nick and Katia fear they’re in the killer’s crosshairs, and Jeremy gets an assist in his mission to off Roman.

LATE-NITE:
– Anthony Anderson, Lauren Lapkus, and Nick Griffin on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Debbie Wasserman Schultz on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 11pm, Comedy Central
– Mike Epps on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, 11:30pm, Comedy Central
– Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, and Wild Belle on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Matthew Perry, Nick Offerman, and Explosions in the Sky on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 11:35pm, CBS
– Claire Danes, Jerrod Carmichael, and Brann Dailor on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC
– Aaron Paul, Jennifer Hudson, and Hozier on The Late Late Show with James Corden, 12:37am, CBS

Photo by Gina Gammell

Know the name Morly? Familiarize yourself with it now. The singer made her first splash contributing atmospheric, layered, and eerily awesome chopped up vocals for Ryan Hemsworth's "Maestrom," as part of his Secret Songs compilation, but in recent months she's been stepping out on her own. First with her debut EP—In Defense Of My Muse (out on Cascine) and in recent months dropping the likes of "If Only Chords"—a hypnotic, slow-dive kind of R&B-pop, and "Plucky" which, just like its title suggests, picks up the sass with finger clicks and her sleek vocal syncopation. Songs that see her step away from working on instrumentals, bumping her rich vocals into the spotlight. With the help of producer Stint (who's worked a bunch with Gallant) we've got a whole EP, Something More Holy, premiering below. A little Jessie Ware, a little Alpines, a weeny bit James Blake, her this collection showcases two unheard songs.

"Something More Holy began as a collection of poems and disembodied melodies," explains the Minneapolis based singer. "It was mostly a process of unfolding the sounds from the words—and learning to trust and communicate with another artist."

Listen: https://soundcloud.com/cascine

What to watch on Tuesday, April 5...

8pm, Fox
American Idol: American Dream
A retrospective of the singing competition’s 15-season run, ahead of tomorrow night's special penultimate episode and Thursday's series finale. Judges, contestants, and Seacrest-Model Automated Hosting Units from throughout the show’s history gather to share stories and memories.

8pm, CBS
NCIS
DiNozzo’s identity is stolen by multiple people in “Charade.” And to make matters worse, the Faux DiNozzi run around blackmailing senators.

8pm, ABC
Fresh Off the Boat
The end of the Melrose Place season leaves superfan Jessica hungry for a drama fix in “Jessica Place.” While she and Honey go a-snooping, Louis and Eddie help Emery process some negative emotions.

8:30pm, ABC
The Real O’Neals
In “The Real Grandma,” Eileen is determined to keep her visiting mother, a strict Catholic, from learning about her divorce and Kenny’s sexuality. But Kenny, not sharing her caution (and knowing it’s impossible to keep a secret on a sitcom anyway), tries to persuade Eileen to put it all out in the open.

9pm, PBS
The Secrets of Saint John Paul
The life and views of Pope John Paul II are explored through his longtime correspondence with a close friend, the Polish-American philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka.

SERIES PREMIERE, 9pm, TBS
America’s Greatest Makers
Twelve teams of inventors tout their most mind-blowing creations (Non-Mad-Science Division) in this reality competition. Kenny Smith and Kevin Pereira are the guest judges in the premiere.

SEASON 1 FINALE, 9pm, Freeform
Shadowhunters
A conflicted Jace vows to vanquish Valentine in “Morning Star,” while Clary and Simon put their heads together to solve the mystery of Jocelyn’s coma, and Alec faces the fallout of his decision.

9pm, The CW
iZombie
Liv returns to her pre-zombie type-A ways after sampling the cerebellum of a highly driven student in “Reflections of the Way Liv Used to Be.” Elsewhere, Blaine seeks help from Ravi while Major finds himself in a bit of a downturn.

9pm, WGN America
Outsiders
Houghton has one thing on his mind in “Mortar”: revenge. Well okay, two things, because he needs to pick up his dry cleaning, too, but after that: revenge.

9pm, ABC
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
“Spacetime” gives Daisy a chilling peek at the future, which may or may not just be clips from upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe installments coming soon to a theater near you.

9pm, NBC
Chicago Med
A husband requests to harvest eggs from his recently deceased wife in “Us,” which would probably come off as a bit unseemly even if he weren’t rubbing his hands together and cackling maniacally. Meanwhile, the doctors treat a child who swallowed some magnets, Dr. Choi and Dr. Charles deal with a patient who would like to divest himself of his arm, and Sarah reconsiders her residency at the last minute.

SPECIAL TIME, 9:30pm, Fox
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
While undercover at a women’s prison, Amy must buddy up to an inmate (Aida Turturro) who knows critical information in “Maximum Security.” Back at the Nine-Nine, Holt and the team organize a fake funeral in hopes of drawing out a hitman.

SEASON 1 FINALE, 10pm, FX
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson
“The Verdict” brings in a decision on the titular trial, but first both sides must deliver their closing statements, the jurors must deliberate, and FX President John Landgraf must silently weep that there won’t be any appeals from which to mine two or three more seasons of this case.

10pm, CBS
Limitless
“Hi, My Name Is Rebecca Harris…” sees Rebecca determined to bring her father’s murderer to justice, even if that means crossing the line and popping NZT. Meanwhile, Sands plays hardball with Brian to keep his new initiative on track.

10pm, NBC
Chicago Fire
After witnessing a murder and being threatened by the murderer, Sylvie seeks help from the Chicago P.D.’s Det. Dawson. Elsewhere in “On the Warpath,” Chicago’s hottest restaurant is… well, the one that’s on fire with people trapped inside a vault.

10pm, Freeform
Stitchers
In “The One That Got Away,” Fisher’s mentor is slain by the serial killer who Kirsten has been pursuing for years. The team devises a cunning plan to bring that chase to a close, but it goes pear-shaped when Cameron winds up trapped with their lethal quarry.

10pm, MTV
Awkward.
In “Best Friends for Never,” Jenna thinks bringing Tamara into the Idea Bin fold via an internship is just a swell idea. In other news, Jenna has never watched television in her life.

10:30pm, MTV
Faking It
Creative endeavors abound in “Jagged Little Heart,” as Amy wants to make Lauren the subject of a documentary while Karma and Shane form a band.

LATE-NITE:
– Wanda Sykes, Sharon Horgan, and Aurora on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Jerrod Carmichael on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 11pm, Comedy Central
– Logic on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, 11:30pm, Comedy Central
– Greg Kinnear, Padma Lakshmi, and Andrew Dice Clay on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Melissa McCarthy & Ben Falcone, Arianna Huffington, and Baby Metal on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 11:35pm, CBS
– Matthew Perry & Thomas Lennon, Cecily Strong, Chuck Todd, and Brann Dailor on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC
– Salma Hayek and Ray Romano on The Late Late Show with James Corden, 12:37am, CBS